Armazenamento e viragem dos ovos de matrizes pesadas

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the storage period and egg turning during storage on the quality parameters of the eggs, hatchability and embryo diagnosis. The storage period (four, eight and twelve days) and the turning or not the eggs, in a 180° angle, once a day, defined the treatments. The control treatment consisted of eggs stored for a day, without turning. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial 3 (three storage periods) x 2 (turning or not turning the eggs during storage) + 1 (control treatment). For the egg quality analyzes 30 replications per treatment were used, in which each egg is considered a replicate. For the analyzes of weight loss during storage, weight loss during incubation process, hatchability, embryonic mortality and chick weight 12 replications per treatment were used, in which each tray of 96 eggs constituted a replicate. There was a significant interaction of storage period and turning during storage for egg weight, shell weight and albumen pH (p0,05). The yolk weight wasnt affected by the treatments (p>0,05). The turning of the eggs did not influence the albumen weight neither the Haugh Units (HU) (p>0,05), however, eggs stored for four days showed higher albumen weight and HU. The weight loss during storage was higher in eggs stored for eight and twelve days (p0,05), and the turning of the eggs didnt influence this variable (p>0,05). Eggs subjected to turning showed higher hatching when compared with non-turning eggs (p0,05). The hatching of eggs stored for four and eight days were statistically similar and higher than the hatching of eggs stored for twelve days (p0,05). Eggs stored for twelve days showed higher percentage of early and late embryonic mortality (p0,05), and the turning of the eggs during storage didnt affect these variables (p>0,05). The egg turning during storage period for four, eight and 12 days, in a 180° angle, once a day, result in lower albumen pH, higher relative weight of the shell and higher hatching.