N’dri Aya Lydie^1,2*, Ahouchi Simon Valencourt¹, Fofana Nambate¹, Yapi Jean Noel¹

¹Laboratory of Biology and Animal Cytology, Research and Training Unit of Natural Sciences-University of Nangui Abrogoua, 02 BP 801 Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire.

²Laboratory of Genetic and Bioresources Improvement, Research and Training Unity- University of Nangui Abrogoua, 02 BP 801 Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire.

Abstract

In Côte d’Ivoire, the local hen breeding constitutes nearly 70% of national poultry livestock in Côte d’Ivoire. Local hens of Côte d’Ivoire in general, are less known by scientific community because it is almost fewer characterized. In this context, it is necessary to work with the aim of improving local hens’ productivity in order to contribute at food self-sufficiency. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the shelf life and placement of the egg before brooding.240 eggs from 82 local hens aged 36 weeks were divided in 6 batches of 40 eggs each. At first 3 batches were stored during 3 days, 5 days and 10 days respectively for batch 1, batch 2 and batch 3. Secondarily, the 3 others batches were stored during 5 days using 3 breeding positions namely vertical position with small end up, vertical position with the small end down and the horizontal position. Influences of storage duration on eggs weight and position of eggs on hatchability characteristics were evaluated.  The study showed that the positioning of the eggs significantly influenced hatchability and the horizontal storage position gave the best results compared to the two other positions. The average fertility of the local eggs recorded in this study showed out that long-term stored eggs presented lower hatching average. For the local hens, a storage of 5 days maximum before incubation of the eggs is advisable. The positioning and storage time significantly influenced the weight and hatchability of local eggs.

Keywords: Storage, Egg position, Hatchability, Local hens, Cote d’Ivoire