Pattern of Influencing Economic and Technical Factors on Egg Shell Quality for Waste Reduction: A Case Study of Egg Production Units in Khorasan Razavi Province of Iran

This study aimed at investigating the economic and technical factors and how they affect the reduction of egg waste in all egg production units in Khorasan Razavi province of Iran in 2014 by using the Structural Equation Model based on Partial Least Squares and the proposed conceptual model. For this purpose, variables were grouped in three categories including managerial, environmental and nutritional factors. The results showed that the greatest effects on reduction of egg waste were respectively related to managerial (0.840), environmental (0.654) and nutritional (0.123) factors. In this conceptual model, as shown by the results, 0.857 percent of the changes in egg waste were predicted by the Latent Variables. As many of these factors fell into the group of management factors, it might be possible to control them in short term. Among the managerial factors, the variables of main managerial occupation, manager's experience, molting program age, type of ventilation and external parasitic contamination were found to be the most important factors affecting the reduction of egg waste through the Latent variables of management. Finally, it was recommended to appoint experienced managers with the related knowledge to select the appropriate time for molting age and external parasitic control.