A STUDY ON QUALITY TRAITS OF CHICKEN EGGS COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT AREAS OF KARACHI

Present study was conducted to evaluate the quality traits of poultry eggs collected from various sources i.e. market, commercial farm and backyard farming, in Karachi. A total of 250 eggs were analyzed for external and internal qualities. A significant difference (p 0.05) was recorded in quality parameters except percent shell, shell thickness, egg width, egg weight, shape index and Haugh unit between eggs analyzed. It was observed that eggs collected directly from farms and backyard poultry had a superior internal and external quality feature when compared with eggs from market due to a short period of storage. While the indigenous chicken eggs were rather smaller in size when compared with farm and market eggs. Whereas the farm eggs were cheaper in price as compared to market eggs but the eggs from backyard had a higher cost of purchase. It was concluded that due to inadequate storage and transportation eggs collected from market are of low quality and expensive in comparison to eggs purchased directly from farms of backyard farming.