A crossbreeding experiment was executed between an Egyptian strain of Golden Montazah (M) and a foreign breed of White Leghorn (L). Data on 996 pullets fathered by 79 sires and mothered by 441 dams produced from five genetic groups of M, L, ½M½L, (½M½L)2 and ((½M½L)2)2 were used to evaluate these genetic groups and to estimate the crossbreeding effects of direct additive effects (DI(M-L) ), direct (HI) and maternal heterosis (HM) for some egg quality characteristics related to egg weight (EW), yolk weight (YW), albumen weight (AW), Haugh units (HU), shell weight (SW), egg shape index (ESI), albumen index (AI), yolk index (YI) and shell thickness (STH). Single-trait animal model analysis was used to analyze the data of these traits.
Results showed that eggs of crossbreds were generally better in egg quality traits than eggs in purebreds. Eggs of L breed were significantly better than M strain in most traits (p |
