Abstract:
The cuticle is the outermost layer of the egg which deposited on to the surface of the egg during the final 1-1.5 hours prior to oviposition. It is a protective coating which prevents bacterial penetration through the gas exchange pores in the eggshell. The aim of this research is analysing the cuticle cover and ultrastructural features of the mammillary layer cover during production cycle in the free-range system. Data were collected from age 26, 37, 50 and 60 weeks of age to observe the eggshell colour (%), cuticle cover following the MST blue dye which analysed by spectrophotometry based on L*a*b system and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Data were analysed using Statview Software (SAS Institute Inc., Version 5.0.1.0). A two way analysis of variance was conducted taking flock age and shed/flock as the independent variables and body weight, egg quality measurements, spectrophotometry (L*a*b) measurements, single score measurements for cuticle cover, and ultrastructural features as dependent variables. Level of significance was indicated by probability of less than 5%. The Fishers PLSD test was used to differentiate between mean values. The result of this research showed that the cuticle cover is vary from age to age. The greater value of cuticle cover in at 37 weeks of age which the same result also showed by single scrore and SEM. The cuticle cover of the shell is mostly affected by age and also strain
