Impact of Egg Storage Temperature and Duration on Egg Quality, Hatchability, Post-Hatch Growth Performance, and Carcass Traits of Japanese Quail

Sherief, Wafaa Reda  Ibrahim; Nasr, Mohammed Abdel Fattah; Salah, Noha Atef; Abdel-Hamid, Tamer Mohamed

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.379538.2811

Impact of Egg Storage Temperature and Duration on Egg Quality, Hatchability, Post-Hatch Growth Performance, and Carcass Traits of Japanese Quail

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Animal Wealth Development Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt

² Animal Wealth Development Department, Faculty of veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University

10.21608/ejvs.2025.379538.2811

Abstract

This investigation aimed to highlight the effects of egg storage temperature and duration on Japanese quail egg quality, hatchability, post-hatch performance, and carcass traits. A total of 2400 hatching eggs were obtained from a Japanese quail breeder flock. A 2×3 factorial design was used for this study with two egg storage temperatures, which included room temperature (24 °C) and refrigeration (7 °C), and different storage periods, which included 3, 8, and 12 days. The results of this study revealed that, eggs stored at room temperature for 12 d had the lowest yolk height and index. Albumin height of eggs stored for 3 days had a significantly (p<0.001) higher score compared to eggs stored for 8 and 12 days. Eggs stored at room temperature showed a decline in hatchability of fertile eggs (OR=0.56, P < 0.001) to refrigeration. Prolonged storage (12 days) drastically reduced the hatchability percentage while increasing embryo loss. The quails produced from 3-day-stored eggs had significantly (p<0.05) better growth performance, which was reflected in higher body and carcass weights, lower feed intake, and better feed conversion compared with those of chicks produced from eggs stored for 8 or more days. The highest thigh percentage was observed in quail that was produced from eggs stored for 3 days at refrigeration compared to other storage temperatures and periods. This study concluded that the best results in terms of hatch and post-hatch performance, as well as carcass characteristics, were obtained with refrigerated quail eggs and storage times of three days.

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