Egg laying pattern, egg weight, body weight at hatch, and sex ratio bias relative to oviposition time of young-and mid-age broiler breeders.

Two experiments were conducted to determine oviposition pattern and the effect of oviposition time on egg weight, body weight at hatch, and sex ratio of hatched chickens. In Experiment 1, eggs were collected from young and mid-age broiler flocks for 6 consecutive days at hourly intervals between 0400 and 2000h. In Experiment 2, eggs were categorized to represent eggs where oviposition occurred early, middle and late in the clutch (later in the day). These eggs were incubated to determine body weight at hatch and sex ratio of hatched chickens relative to oviposition time. Time of oviposition was affected by age. For the young flock, the percentage of ovipositions occurring before the 1100h was 79%. In contrast to the young flock, the percentage of ovipositions occurring before the 1100h in the mid-age flock was less (68%; P<0.01). Furthermore, for the mid-age flock, the percentage of ovipositions occurring from 1200 to 1700h was greater (P<0.01) at 32% in comparison to that of the younger flock at 21%. Egg weights when oviposition occurred earlier in the day were greater (P<0.01) than when oviposition occurred in the middle and later in the clutch (later in the day). Similarly, body weight at hatch of chicks from eggs where oviposition occurred earlier in the day was heavier than when oviposition occurred in the middle and later in the clutch (later in the day).With hatching of the eggs from hens when ovipositions occurred earlier in the day, there was a female sex bias. Differences in egg weights, body weight at hatch, and sex ratio due to time of oviposition suggest that oviposition time together with incubation conditions should be considered for obtaining greater uniformity and growth of chickens.