Table 2.
Mean values (x̅) and standard deviations (± SD) of the eggshell parameters.
| Factor | Indicator | Shell colour (%) | Shell strength (g/cm2) | Shell weight (g) | Shell proportion in the egg (%) | Shell thickness (mm) | Shell density (g/cm3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group1 | A | 56.49a | 3.92 | 4.90 | 9.21 | 0.309 | 2.063 |
| B | 54.39b | 3.86 | 4.84 | 9.16 | 0.309 | 2.050 | |
| ± SD* | ± 7.11 | ± 0.83 | ± 0.61 | ± 0.90 | ± 0.03 | ± 0.01 | |
| p value | 0.007 | 0.488 | 0.182 | 0.669 | 0.903 | 0.266 | |
| Age of hens (weeks) | I (19) | 52.34c | 3.42b | 4.13d | 9.31 | 0.292b | 2.036b |
| II (24) | 52.83c | 4.07a | 4.75d | 9.19 | 0.309b | 2.050b | |
| III (29) | 56.07b | 3.89a | 4.84c | 9.12 | 0.306b | 2.070b | |
| IV (34) | 58.14a | 3.97a | 5.16b | 9.19 | 0.312a | 2.085a | |
| V (39) | 58.80a | 4.11a | 5.44a | 9.12 | 0.319a | 2.089a | |
| SD | 6.76 | 2.08 | 1.43 | 0.89 | 0.02 | 0.10 | |
| p value | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.795 | 0.000 | 0.023 | |
| Interaction | 0.825 | 0.036 | 0.316 | 0.215 | 0.475 | 0.245 |
Different letters (a, b) indicate a significant difference between treatments (A–B) and periods (I–V) at p < 0.05.
*Standard deviation.
1TREATMENT: A, control with soybean meal; B, experimental with yellow lupin, narrow-leaved lupin and peas.