Investigation of the Effect of Washing, Storage Time and Temperature on Hatchability Traits of East Azarbaijan Goose Eggs

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of washing, storage time and storage temperature on hatchability and post- hatch growth of East Azarbaijan goose eggs. A total of 144 clean goose eggs were randomly selected from Malekan goose research station, East Azarbaijan and were asigned randomly for each treatment. There were 12 treatments in a factorial arrangement 2×3×2 based on a completely randomized design with main effects pre- incubation egg washing and non- wash, storage period: 1, 10 and 20 days and two egg storage temperature 25°C and 7°C with 3 replicates of 4 eggs per each. Initial egg weight, egg weight after storage, egg weight before transfer to setter and egg weight loss during storage time were individulay measured. After hatch, chicks were individually weighed and the quality of gooslings were measured individualy by Tona method. Results showed that egg storage time and temperature had a significant effect on total egg weight loss (P<0.05). Egg storage time and temperature had a significant effect on fertility and hatchability of eggs (P<0.05), but washing of eggs had no significant effect (P>0.05). The lowest initial gosling weight was seen in eggs that stored 20d. The highest body weight at day 7 were seen in eggs stored 10 days in 7˚C with pre incubation washing (276.3 g). Egg storage time and storage temperature had significant effect on fertility and hatchability of goose eggs (P<0.05). The hatchability of eggs stored in 7˚ and 25˚ C were 82.75 and 75%, respectively. Increasing egg storage time and storage temperature had negative effect on the goosling quality. In conclusion, the increasing egg storage time and storage temperature can decrease the fertility, the hatchability of eggs and the post-hatch gosling quality, but pre-incubation egg washing had no significant effect on fertility and post- hatch quality of gosling.