The Effect of Season and Age of Bird

Abstract

THE EXTENT that season, environmental temperature, management practices, nutrition, genetics, age of layer, etc. effect egg quality have been extensively studied. However, satisfactory explanations for these quality variations in relation to differences in composition which effect physical and performance characteristics associated with quality have not been elucidated. Smith et al. (1954) found that the composition of eggs produced by a hen was an individual characteristic and that changes in egg composition could be associated with laying rate, environmental temperatures and age of the layer. They reported that higher temperatures increased the dry matter, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium levels of egg white. Cotterill and Winter (1955) proposed that the dissociation of a complex between lysozyme and ovomucin might be responsible for one stage in egg white thinning. They showed that increases in the ionic strength and pH of the medium caused a dissociation of the complex. This protein interaction appeared to …