Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(4): 1690-1695 1690 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.704.191 Studies on Certain Egg Qualities of Indigenous, Vanaraja, and Crossbred (PB2 x Indigenous) Chickens under Intensive and Backyard Systems of Rearing I.U. Sheikh 1* , N. Kalita 1 , J.D. Mahanta 1 and J. Hussain 2 1 Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati-7810 22, India 2 Department of Livestock Production and Management, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati-7810 22, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Livestock and poultry activities play an important role in national economy and in socio-economic development of the country. Today India is the fifth largest producer of poultry meat in the world with an annual production of 2.47 million MT and third largest producer of eggs with an annual production of 74.75 billion during 2013-14 with the per capita availability of eggs is only 61 and that of poultry meat is 3.1 kg which is far below the ICMR recommendation of 180 eggs and 11 kg meat per person per annum (DAH&FS, 2015). However, despite about 25 per cent of the people living in urban areas consuming 75 per cent of the eggs and almost 100 per cent of the broilers produced in India International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 04 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com A study has been conducted on a total 1200 no. of chicks out of which 600 numbers (200 each of Indigenous, Vanaraja and Crossbred) were reared under intensive system. All the types of chicken were fed uniform diet of Chick (0-8 weeks), Grower (9-20 weeks) and Layer (above 20 weeks) ration prepared with conventional feedstuffs as per BIS (1992). Remaining 600 numbers (200 each of Indigenous, Vanaraja and Crossbred) were distributed among 30 beneficiaries for backyard system of rearing. The overall egg weights at 40 weeks of age were significantly (P≤0.05) higher in Vanaraja (53.65 ± 0.57 g) followed by Crossbred (44.6 ± 0.55 g) and Indigenous (34.60 ± 0.28 g) chickens. Similarly the overall egg weights at 40 weeks of age was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher under intensive system (45.10 ± 1.51 g) than under backyard system (43.47 ± 1.34 g) of rearing. The shape index was found to be higher in indigenous than Vanaraja and crossbred chicken. Significantly (P≤0.05) higher values of egg weight, egg shell thickness, egg yol k index and H.U scores of eggs were observed under intensive system of rearing than those under backyard system of rearing. However, rearing systems had no significant effect on shape index and albumen index values of eggs. It can be concluded that the Vanaraja could be reared successfully under backyard system of rearing for increasing egg mass. Keywords Egg quality, Indigenous, Vanaraja, Crossbred, Intensive, backyard rearing Accepted: 12 March 2018 Available Online: 10 April 2018 Article Info