Student Competition : Processing and Products

The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate egg quality parameters, and (2) conduct scrambled and hard cooked sensory tests of eggs from Hy-line Brown commercial layers fed soybean and soybean-free diets using cage and cage-free rearing systems. A total of 246 layers, 30 wk old, were divided into 2 groups housed individually in either wire cages (120 hens) or grouped in a cage free system (126 hens) with open access to the ambient environment. The cage system consisted of 6 replicates/ treatment of 10 hens/rep, and the cage free system consisted of 3 replicates/treatment of 21 hens/rep. Diets were formulated based on the nutrient requirements suggested by the Hy-line management guide for those hens. Eggs were collected daily and egg weight (g) was recorded weekly. Egg quality data was collected at 2-wk intervals during the study to evaluate albumen height (μm), shell thickness, breaking strength, and Haugh unit. Scrambled and hard cooked egg tests were conducted to evaluate overall like or dislike of flavor, texture, odor, and color using the 9-point hedonic scale test. Samples were placed in separate weigh boats labeled with 3 digit codes to avoid visual bias. These codes were used to evaluate the effect of each treatment on egg quality. Results demonstrated no difference in egg production in both systems except in the first month; the soybean diet had significantly higher egg production than the soybean-free diet. Egg weight was significantly higher for the soybean diet in the cage facility throughout the study while for the cage-free system egg weight was only higher during the first 2 mo on the soybean diet. No significant differences were observed in egg quality parameters between diets in both rearing facilities. For the sensory evaluation tests, results indicated that there was no significant difference between diets for either rearing system.