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Egg Quality Traits Among Four Japanese Indigenous Breeds of Chickens
Emmanuel Tope Ogunwale1, Dipson Gyawali1, Tatsuhiko Goto1,2
1Department of Life and Food Sciences, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
Abstract:
Japanese indigenous chickens potentially produce good-quality eggs. This study aims to analyze egg quality traits using four Japanese indigenous breeds: Tosa-jidori (TSJ), Ko-Shamo (KSM), Minohikichabo (MHC), and Chabo (CHB). Eleven egg quality traits were measured from 73 hens in total. One-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA) were conducted. Significant breed effects were observed for nine egg traits, except for the length of the short axis of the egg and eggshell yellowness. TSJ and KSM have significantly higher egg weight and albumen weight than MHC and CHB. The weights of yolk and eggshell in KSM were significantly higher than those of the others. MHC indicated significantly higher eggshell strength and thickness than CHB. MHC showed significantly redder eggshells than the others. PC1 (size and weight of egg components), PC2 (eggshell quality and color), and PC3 (thickness, weight, and redness of the eggshell) explained 76.9% of the total variance. Significant breed effects were observed for PC1 and PC2, revealing breed-specific characteristics in egg traits in this study. Moderate to strong correlations were found both among size and weight traits and among eggshell color traits. These results suggest the importance of characterizing untapped genetic resources in egg quality traits.
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