PHENOTYPIC CORRELATIONS BETWEEN SOME EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EGG QUALITY TRAITS IN GRAMAPRIYA LAYERS

In a study, 360 nos of eggs were randomly collected from 80 birds from a flock of Gramapriya layers for a period of twelve weeks and assessed individually for the evaluation of the egg quality traits and to study the phenotypic correlations between some external and internal egg quality traits. The average values of egg weight, shape index, shell ratio, and average shell thickness were found to be 56.34g, 83.92%, 10.13% and 0.39 mm, respectively. The values related to albumen index , albumen height , albumen weight , albumen ratio , yolk diameter , yolk height , yolk index , yolk ratio and average values related to Haugh Unit (HU) were 0.33 %, 8.28 mm, 34.16g, 61.81%, 26.23 mm, 18.13 mm, 15.24g, 64.01% , 8.05% and 88.24% respectively. All the internal quality traits of the eggs, except the yolk ratio, were found to have significant positive correlations with the weight of the egg. The study indicates that as the albumen height improved the Haugh Unit also improved and as the egg weight increased heights of both the albumen and yolk also increased. Results achieved in the study in relation with external and internal quality traits of Gramapriya layer eggs may assist the breeders for further improvement of the breed