Comparison of the effects of automatic and conventional laying nests on egg quality of broiler breeders

To compare the effects of automatic and conventional laying nests in broiler breeder houses on some egg quality variables, a broiler breeder farm in which 5 houses equipped with automatic laying.nests and 5 houses had the conventional laying nests was used. The weekly percentages of misshapen eggs, double-yolked eggs, cracked eggs, dirty eggs, wasted eggs, and hatchable eggs were measured in houses during a production period (34 weeks). The observations of weekly percentages of each variable were analysed using a model included the random effects of houses and production weeks using proc mixed of SAS software, and the mean percentage of variables were compared between the two groups of houses. The frequency of misshapen eggs were lower and the frequency of dirty eggs and wasted eggs were higher in houses with automatic laying nests, (p<0.01). The percentage of hatchable eggs was also higher in houses equipped with automatic nests (p<0.01). The cracked eggs and double-yolked eggs percentages were not affected by the nest type. It is concluded that equipping broiler breeder houses with automatic laying nests and its proper mangement could improve egg quality and percentage of hatchable eggs.