The effect of farms and ages of breeder broiler Ross flocks on egg quality and hatchability traits

Breeding method and age of broiler breeder herds, are important factors affecting the egg traits and hatchability. The aim of this research was to study the effect of age of broiler breeder herds and farms on the egg quantitative traits and hatchability. An experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three treatments (broiler breeder herd ages) and three blocks (farms). Of any farm, 120 fretilized eggs in three different ages (43, 53 and 60 weeks) were randomly selected. Egg and hatchability traits were measured. For statistical analysis of the traits, the GLM procedure in SAS statistical software was used. For mean comparison of farm and age effects, the Duncan test with 0.05 probability level was used. The effect of farms and broiler breeder ages on all traits were significant (P<0.05). Apart of the egg shell thickness and Haugh units, in other traits an increase in measeurements were observed with increasing age. According to the findings of the study, generally broiler breeder flocks had the best performance at the ages of 53 and 60 weeks.