Analysis of the Egg Quality of Nami Chicken in Weixi County of Yunnan Province

PurposeIn order to reveal the germplasm characteristics of Nami chicken in Weixi County, Yunnan Province.

MethodsThe standard egg quality indexes of 60 eggs of 400-day-old this chicken, such as egg weight, egg shape index, Haugh unit, specific gravity of eggs, shell strength, albumen height, yolk color, shell thickness, shell color, meat spot and blood spot rates in eggs were tested and the correlation between the indexes was also analyzed.

ResultsThe egg weight of Nami chicken was (58.01±0.70) g, the egg shape index was 1.33±0.01, the Haugh unit was 80.75±1.18, the egg specific gravity was 1.109±0.001, the eggshell strength was (33.59±0.94) N, the albumen height was (6.59±0.19) mm the yolk chromaticity index was 10.09±0.14, and the eggshell thickness was (0.37±0.004) mm. Eggshell color of this chicken included brown, light brown and white, accounting for 32.20%, 59.32% and 8.47%, respectively. The percentage of meat spots and blood spots in eggs were 1.69% and 5.08%, respectively. The egg weight of Nami chicken is higher than that of other indigenous chickens in Yunnan Province, and it is at a high level among the reported indigenous chickens in China. The egg shape index of Nami chicken is above the middle level of other Yunnan indigenous chickens. The egg shell color of Nami chicken is mainly light brown, and its egg protein viscosity is good.

ConclusionThe egg quality of Nami chicken is better than most other indigenous breeds in Yunnan, and the results in this study can provide some basis for the evaluation of the germplasm characteristics of Nami chicken.