<div style="text-align: justify;">Poultry farming is gaining strength in mitigating livelihood and nutritional security to the poor farmers which constitute 60% of the India&rsquo;s population. Thus eggs of superior quality is prerequisite for profitable marketing and for hatchability too. The present study was conducted on two improved varieties, &nbsp;Vanaraja (dual purpose type) and Gramapriya &nbsp;(the layer type) chicken developed at PDP, Hyderabad and their crosses on random mating. The genetic groups taken were Gramapriya (male) x Gramapriya (female),Vanaraja(male) x Vanaraja(female), Gramapriya(male) x Vanaraja(female)and Vanaraja (male) x Gramapriya(female). 6 males and 30 females were taken from each genetic group and maintained separately under deep litter system with a mating ratio of 1 male : 5 females. To study the genetic effect on external and internal egg quality traits, a total of more than 50 eggs were collected at random from each of 4 genetic groups upto 28 weeks of age. The average shell thickness obtained to be ranged from 0.36 to 0.39 mm. The average albumen and yolk indices were found to be ranged from 7.396 to 8.656 and 41.749 to 43.888 respectively. The average shell weight and percentage of shell weight observed to be ranged from 4.147 to 5.627 g and 17.266 to 18.003% respectively.</div>

Genetic impact on &nbsp;external and internal egg quality &nbsp;traits of Vanaraja and Gramapriya birds and their crosses in Bihar

<p style="text-align: justify;">A study was undertaken to evaluate the seasonal influence on performance of Vanaraja (n=3924) and Gramapriya (n=2227) maintained in five different batches during 2011-14. Better growth was observed in summer during brooding. At brooding, mortality was significantly higher during winter in Vanaraja and during summer in Gramapriya. The egg production was higher when birds started laying in winter than in summer. The overall Hen Day Egg Production (HDEP) was higher in Vanaraja (p&lt;0.01) than the Gramapriya. The fertility level varied between 68 to 90% in both varieties. The hatchability percentage on fertile egg set (FES) varied within the range of 70 to 90. It was concluded that better egg production performance could be obtained from Vanaraja birds, raised in summer and those initiated laying in winter. Therefore, the seasonal factors should be taken care of while raising parent line to achieve optimum production. &nbsp;</p>


Genetic impact on external and internal egg quality traits of Vanaraja and Gramapriya birds and their crosses in Bihar

Effect of season on growth and reproduction performance of improved backyard poultry in North Eastern Hill Region