Measures of Egg Shell Quality

Abstract

Egg shell quality is a trait that is commonly measured and reported in different units. As a result, correlations between various units of measure are of real importance when comparing data measuring the same trait but reported in different units. Periodic examination of these relationships, although previously reported, are useful in determining their stability. Olsson (1934) reported a correlation of .94 between specific gravity and percent shell. A correlation of .754 between specific gravity and shell thickness was reported by Godfrey and Jaap (1949). This study was undertaken in order to further examine the relationship of various measures of egg shell quality. Eggs were collected for five consecutive days from approximately 300 Single Comb White Leghorn pullets 200 days of age which originated from the Cornell Randombred population maintained at the North Central Regional Poultry Breeding Laboratory. Eggs were weighed to the nearest two-tenths gram and the specific gravity…