Egg-laying strains of chickens are highly susceptible to osteoporosis, a noninfectious disease characterized by a decrease in structural bone as hens age. To minimize the onset of osteoporosis, it was hypothesized that a delay in sexual maturity may allow a pullet to develop a stronger skeletal frame before egg laying, leading to improved skeletal mineralization at end of lay. One management to...

The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of egg size on hatching quality and post-hatch growth performance normal feathered indigenous chickens. Hatchable eggs, grouped into three sizes: medium/control, small large, were incubated obtain day-old chicks. One hundred eighty (180) chicks allotted treatment groups according sizes from which they hatched. Egg significantly (p<0.05) infl...