ANALYSIS OF PHYSICO-MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND INCUBATION ABILITY OF EGGS OF DUCKS BREEDS SHAOXING IN DIFFERENT AGES
Authors: Chepiha A. M. , Kostenko S. O. , Korol P. V. , Doroshenko M. S. , Konoval O. M. , Lizhi Lu , Xingcheng Bu , Linlin Huang , Xuetao Huang , Liumeng Li 
Published: November 2018

The main biological functions of eggs include its ability to create optimal conditions for embryos, which, accordingly, contributes to the preservation and reproduction of the species. It is recommended for incubation to take eggs from physiologically healthy, mature birds, because the quality of the incubation eggs depends on the yield of the young, the vitality and productivity of the poultry. A prerequisite for a successful incubation is the assessment of eggs for a variety of morphological characteristics, but this can not be done without taking into account the biological features of incubation eggs associated with breed, crossbreed and bird age. It is known that with the age of the bird, the morphological parameters of the egg and its incubation capacity are changing. In particular, the weight and shape of the egg vary during the period of increasing the bird's egg-laying. The chicken egg has been extensively studied in the world and national scientific literature, its quality and composition, but over the past decades eggs of various types of poultry have been entered into the field of research: turkeys, guinea fowl, quails, ostriches and ducks. The Shaoxing Species (Shaoxing) belongs to the main Chinese egg rocks. Ducks of this breed are characterized by high performance, such as early maturity (130–140 days), long-term peak period of laying eggs (8–10 months) and good breeding (290–310 eggs for 500 days). Such indicators are some of the best for egg bird. That is why the purpose of the work was to determine the effect of the physico-morphological indices of the egg, the age of the bird and the color of the shell on the incubation properties of the eggs of the ducks of the Shaoxing breed. Three comparative analyzes of morphological parameters and their influence on the incubation capacity of eggs were selected from three experimental groups of ducks of the Shaoxing of different ages. Group number 1 carried eggs from females age 41 week, group number 2–63 weeks, and females group number 3 had an age of 71 weeks. The study of changes in the physico-morphological parameters of eggs and incubation ability was investigated within three months. A total of 360 eggs were analyzed. As a result of the experiment, the mass of experimental eggs ranged from 65.83 g (group 1) to 71.13 g (group 3). Between these indicators, a significant difference was found (p ˂ 0,01). Comparison of the studied physico-morphological characteristics of the groups number 1, number 2 and number 3 showed that there is a significant difference between the indices of longitudinal and transverse diameters in the eggs of the studied groups (p ˂ 0,01). Investigation of the thickness of the egg shell has shown that, according to the results, this ostentatious decreases with age (p ˂ 0,05). The obtained data coincide with the results of other researchers. After analyzing the data of the egg shape index, it was found that in the birds of the three studied groups, the average figures were in line with the norm. However, a significant difference was found between the characteristics of groups 1 and 3 (p ˂ 0.1). After analyzing the results of the incubation of eggs from the experimental groups of ducks, we found that the highest fertility of the eggs of group 3 was 92.5%, compared with the group 2–89.16% and 1–87.5%. According to the index of egg output and ducklings, the leader, the group was 3 (75.0%). The results obtained fully correspond to the data obtained from these physical and morphological studies of these eggs. The worst indices of both egg and duckin removal were in group 1. It should also be noted that this group had the largest number of choked (6.67%) and unfertilized eggs (15 pcs.), But these parameters decreased with the age of bird. Consequently, we have established that with the age of birds there is a change in the physical and morphological parameters of eggs (increase in weight, decrease in the thickness of the shell and increase in the index of suitability of eggs for incubation). The general tendency to reduce the embryonic viability of the duckies associated with the mass (group 1) and the form index (group 2) has also shown that eggs of medium size that are not below the standards for the breed standard by mass and index should be selected for incubation forms (group 3). There was a correlation between the incidence of egg incubation and the index of form in group 3, which had a direct impact on incubation and egg output.