Influence of restricted-time feeding of pullets on egg quality during summer

One hundred and forty four egg type pullets were housed in cages at 16 weeks age and later distributed into three groups at 18 weeks of age. Each group was subjected to different treatments viz., ad lib feeding (24 hours), night feeding (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) and morning feeding (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.). The experiment was conducted upto 40 weeks of age of birds during May to November. The laying period was divided into early (24 to 34 weeks) and peak (34 to 40 weeks) laying periods. The average maximum ambient temperature in the cage house during these periods were 35.5 and 32.2°C. The egg quality traits (shape index, yolk index, Haugh unit and shell thickness) were measured at fortnightly intervals on a sample of one day production from each group. There was no significant difference in the shape index and Haugh units of eggs laid by birds subjected to various treatments. Eggs laid by birds subjected to night and morning feeding had significantly higher yolk index (48.26±0.30 and 48.63±0.07, respectively) during early laying period as compared to ad lib fed group (47.99±0.01). While shell thickness of eggs was significantly better in the ad lib fed group (330.12±2.80 11m) during peak laying period as compared to eggs obtained from both night and morning fed birds (313.36±5.31 and 317.08±4.011 μD, respectively).