A Comparative Study on the Laying Performance and Egg Quality of Four Available Strains in Bangladesh

Among all the sub-sectors of the livestock sector in Bangladesh, poultry stands as one of the most important ones. To evaluate the production performances and egg quality of four commercial layer strains in Bangladesh, a total of 128 laying pullets including NOVOgen brown, ISA brown, Hy-line brown, and Bovans brown were randomly allocated at 4 different treated groups (one individual strain treated as separate treatment) having 4 replications and 8 birds in each replication. The birds aged 20 weeks were considered for the experiment and continued until 35 weeks of age. A commercial layer diet purchased from Kazi Farms Group was fed to the experimental birds. Identical management was provided to the birds irrespective of their strains. Data on feed intake, egg production and body weight were recorded and thereafter egg mass and feed efficiency were calculated. Eggs were collected from the respective treatments and subjected to external and internal egg quality analysis. The results revealed that Hy-Line brown had significantly (p<0.001) lower feed intake compared to other strains. On the other hand, NOVOgen Brown had the significantly (p<0.05) higher shell thickness among others. Other laying performances such as hen-day egg production, average egg weight, egg mass and egg quality parameters such as shape index, Haugh unit, albumen index, and yolk color score did not affect significantly (p<0.05). Taken together, it may be concluded that there were almost no statistical differences in relation to laying performance and egg quality among the strains compared in this study and the strains are highly compatible to the local climatic condition.