481 fresh fertilized eggs of three Kurdish local chickens (Black with brown neck, White with shank feathering, and White with non-feathering shank) were collected at pre-molting (355 eggs) and post-molting (126 eggs) stages to evaluate external egg traits. A venine caliper was used to determine the length and breadth of eggs to calculate Shape index. Results indicated that egg weight increased ...

Background Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known to protect boar sperm during freezing–thawing, but little information is known about the effects of LDL extracted from different avian egg yolks on post-thaw boar semen quality. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the effects of LDL at various concentrations and different species on boar sperm quality after freezing–thawing. Ma...

this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of crude protein and probiotic in diets on performance, egg quality  and blood biochemical and immunity parameters of laying hens. a completely randomized design with factorial method (2×4) was conducted in which two levels of crude protein (nrc and 10% lower than nrc recommendation) and 4 levels of probiotic (0, .025%, 0...

Recent evidence suggests that blue-green coloration of bird eggshells may be related to female and/or egg phenotypic quality, and that such colour may affect parental effort and therefore the nutritional environment of developing nestlings. Here we suggest that these relationships and the signal function of eggshell coloration would affect the outcome of coevolution between avian brood parasite...

in this experiment 180 azerbaijan province native laying hens from 28 to 40 weeks were separated in 6 treatments and 3 replicates (10 birds per replicate) as a (2 × 3) factorial arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized design. treatments included two levels of dried tomato pomace (dtp) (8 and 16%) and 3 types of using methods (unprocessed, alkali and acid processed). the results sho...

this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of costmary(tanacetum balsamita)medicinal plant on performance, egg traits, and blood biochemical parameters of laying hens. hundred-eighty of hi-line laying hens (w 36) from 46 until 58 weeks of age were used in a completely randomized design in five treatments and three replicates (12 birds per replicate). the treatment...

Iranian native hens are a valuable genetic resource, due to their adaptability to harsh conditions of husbandry and environment in rural area. The genetic parameters for various traits of economic importance were studied in an Iranian Native chicken population under short term selection for egg production and body weight for over 2 years. The parameters studied were body weight at day old (BW1)...

Life history traits such as fecundity are important to evolution because they make up components of lifetime fitness. Due to their polygenic architectures, such traits are difficult to investigate with genetic mapping. Therefore, little is known about their molecular basis. One possible way toward finding the underlying genes is to map intermediary molecular phenotypes, such as gene expression ...