A comparative study on quality, proximate composition and cholesterol content of eggs and meat in Fayoumi and commercial White Leghorn chickens

The present study was conducted at Poultry Research Institute, Rawalpindi (Pakistan) with the objective of evaluating egg quality, proximate composition and cholesterol content of eggs and meat in Fayoumi (FAY) and commercial (Nick chick) White Leghorn (WLH) breeds of chickens. For this purpose, 64 adult (40 weeks-old) laying hens, 32 each of FAY and WLH breeds were maintained on littered floor in two separate pens under optimal management conditions. The birds were fed ad libitum a balanced layers ration. They had free access to clean and fresh drinking water and were kept under 16 h daily lighting schedule. Egg quality parameters, proximate composition and cholesterol content of eggs were studied for 6 weeks by randomly collecting 3 eggs daily from each breed. Thigh and breast meat samples were obtained from randomly selecting two birds from each breed by slaughtering them at the termination of experiment for determination of proximate composition and cholesterol content. The results show significantly higher egg weight, albumen weight and moisture content in WLH eggs in comparison to FAY eggs, whereas significantly higher yolk, ether extract content and yolk: albumen ratio were observed in FAY. Non-significant differences in shell weight, shell thickness, crude protein, ash and cholesterol contents were recorded between breeds. Breed differences in ether extract content both in breast and thigh meat and in cholesterol content in thigh portion were significant (p < 0.05)