A study on the effect of altitude on shell thickness in goose eggs

Abstract

Egg shell plays role in the respiration, regulation of humidity, protection against diseases and integrity of egg. Therefore thickness of egg shell is an important feature. Many factors contribute to the formation of the shell thickness. The effect of altitude is still the subject of research. Methods: 103 eggs were randomly collected from locations at 915 m, 920 m, 931 m, 935 m, 939 m, 960 m, 968 m, 995 m, 1150 m and 1.350 m altitudes laid out between Tuz Lake and Hasan Mountain and the thickness of the shell at the Blunt end, Equatorial part and Sharp end of the eggs were measured. Conclusion: The average thickness of the shell at the blunt end, equatorial part and sharp end were 0.54 mm, 0.58 mm and 0.60 mm respectively. These differences were statistically significant. When considering the effect of altitude on these three points and general egg thickness, the average values for general thickness varied from 0.53 mm to 0.60 mm, this was 0.51 mm - 0.56 mm for blunt end, 0.53 mm to 0.61 mm for equatorial part and 0.54 mm to 0.62 mm for sharp end. The differences according to altitude noted among equatorial part and sharp end were statistically significant. The correlations between the altitude with Blunt end, Equatorial part, Sharp end and general were insignificant. The results indicated that these altitudes had no obvious effect on eggshell thickness and that the difference detected in thickness could be caused by other factors that are ought to be determined by further studies.