CHICKEN eggs provide affordable, high-quality animal protein. Understanding egg quality traits is essential since they influence grading, pricing, chick weight and consumer preferences. This study examined egg quality variations among ecotypes from hens selectively bred for egg production and mature body weight. Birds had ad libitum access to a uniform layer diet, and daily egg collections allowed for detailed analyses of external and internal egg traits. Results revealed significant ecotype-based variation in external egg traits, with Apac hens laying the heaviest and longest eggs, while Gulu hens produced the lightest. Lira eggs had the highest shape index (SI), while Gulu’s was lowest. Among eggshell characteristics, Gulu eggs had the thickest shells, while Katakwi eggs had the heaviest shells, shell index, and shell ratio. Internal egg traits, including yolk depth, yolk ratio, and yolk index, differed significantly across ecotypes, with Katakwi eggs having the highest values. Yolk colour was also variable, with Gulu eggs scoring highest and Lira eggs lowest. Significant differences (p<0.01) in albumen traits were observed; Apac and Lira eggs had the highest albumen depth, weight, and Haugh unit (HU) scores, with Katakwi eggs scoring the lowest. Egg weight positively correlated with length, shell and albumen weight, yolk depth, and Haugh unit but negatively with yolk ratio. Overall, these findings highlight ecotype-based quality differences suitable for selective breeding for egg weight to enhance egg quality in Uganda's IC without destructive testing.

Eggs of the INDIGENOUS laying hens are preferred by consumers to those obtained from commercial breeds. The present study aimed to compare the fatty acid (FA) composition of yolk lipids of INDIGENOUS eggs (In-digenous; n=20) and conventional eggs (Conventional; n=20). INDIGENOUS and conventional eggs were collected from Lori layer hens reared under free-range condition and an commercial farm respectively. The FA composition of yolk lipids in INDIGENOUS and conventional eggs was determined by gas chromatography. Lori eggs (48.7 g) were significantly lighter than conventional eggs (59.6 g). Total fatty acid content (g/100 g fresh yolk) was similar in Lori and conventional egg yolk with 27.7 and 28.6 respectively. Lori eggs had significantly higher docosahexaenoic (DHA, C22: 6n3), a-linoleic (ALA, C18: 3n3) and oleic acid (C18: 1n9cis) levels and lower linoleic (C18: 2n6cis) levels than conventional eggs. Lori eggs had significantly higher content of n-3 and lower content of n-6 FA than the conventional eggs. In conclusion, the n-6/n-3 ratio in Lori eggs (8.1) was significantly lower than that in conventional eggs (17.4) proposing that INDIGENOUS eggs may be healthier for the consumers than the conventional eggs.

The study was conducted in five selected districts in Bale zone South East, Ethiopia to evaluate the morphometric difference among INDIGENOUS CHICKEN populations. Simple random sampling method was used to select 400 households who owned INDIGENOUS CHICKEN population. From these households, a total of 840 adult (more than 6 months of age) INDIGENOUS CHICKENs (225 males and 615 females) were used for morphometric traits measurements. Linear measurements were taken to the nearest of 0. 5 cm and body weight was recorded at a precision scale of 100 g. Multivariate variance analysis was used to determine major traits that differentiate CHICKEN population. Canonical discriminant multivariate statistical analysis was conducted for more powerful traits comparisons. Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to check the discriminating power of the traits. Pairwise Mahalanobis analysis was carried out to see the distance between INDIGENOUS CHICKEN in the study districts. The study revealed that there were significant variations in morphometric traits across the study districts except shank circumference and wing span in hens and shank length, comb height, comb length, beak length and wattle length in cocks. There were significant variations in linear body measurements between sexes. Pairwise Mahalanobis distances between INDIGENOUS CHICKEN between most of study districts were significant. Generally, there were morphological traits variations observed among the INDIGENOUS CHICKEN populations across the study districts and between sexes, which suggest that there is an opportunity for genetic improvement through selection. Thus, farmers should get technical supports how to select best INDIGENOUS CHICKEN for breeding purpose and formulation of breeding plan should be implemented to conserve INDIGENOUS CHICKEN genetic resources for genetic improvement strategies.