384 Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 2014, 10, 384-386 ISSN: 1814-8085 / E-ISSN: 1927-5129/14 © 2014 Lifescience Global Effect of Age on Production Performance, Egg Geometry and Quality Traits of Lakha Variety of Aseel Chicken in Pakistan Muhammad Usman, Atia Bashir * , Muhammad Akram, Imran Zahoor and Athar Mahmud Department of Poultry Production, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore Pakistan Abstract: Aseel chicken is indigenous to Asian subcontinent famous for its vigor, body characteristics and fighting behavior. Moreover, these birds are also able to withstand harsh climatic conditions of tropical and sub-tropical areas but its rearing is getting less importance due to its poor egg production. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of age on production performance, egg geometry and egg quality traits of Lakha variety of Aseel maintained under standard managemental conditions at Indigenous Chicken Genetic Resource Center (ICGRC), University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. For this purpose, a total of 42 birds, 14 birds in each of the following age group (30, 70 and 110 week), were kept up to four months. Collected data were analyzed under Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with comparison of means using Fisher’s LSD test. Statistical analyses revealed significantly higher egg production and egg mass in first age group (30 week), higher egg weight in third age group (110 week) and better FCR/ dozen eggs and FCR/ kg egg mass in second (70 week) and third age (110 week) groups with non-significant differences in feed intake. Regarding egg geometry, all parameters were significantly higher in third age group than that of second and first age groups. In egg quality, Haugh unit score was significantly higher in third age group while yolk index and shell thickness showed non-significant differences among all age groups. So it can be concluded that with increasing age, egg production and egg mass decreases with increase in egg geometry traits. Keywords: Aseel, Age, Production Performance, Egg Geometry, Egg Quality. INTRODUCTION Poultry is one of the fastest growing industries of Pakistan with annual growth rate of 8-12%. The contribution of poultry sector in livestock is 10.4 % while the rural chickens contribute 11% of total poultry birds with 12% meat and 28% eggs in total meat and egg production of Pakistan [1]. Pakistan is an agricultural country with more than 65% people residing in villages and keeping backyard chickens like Aseel, Naked neck, Fayoumi and Desi for their rural household. Aseel is an important but unexploited chicken genetic resource in Pakistan having better disease resistance and able to withstand sub-tropical climatic conditions of the country [2]. In Asian subcontinent Aseel breed is mainly used for cock fighting purpose but its rearing, propagation and commercialization is getting less importance due to its poor egg production, shorterclutches, and greater broody behavior. Though, these characters can be improved through proper housing, management, fulfilling nutritional requirements but it is impossible without getting information about baseline requirements of Aseel breed under local environmental conditions. So, it is need of the time to standardize its production performance under various managemental situations to make it useful in commercial as well as rural poultry *Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Poultry Production, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan; Tel: +92(42)99211374, +92(42)99211449; Fax: +92(42)99211461; E-mail: atia.basheer@uvas.edu.pk sector. Keeping it in mind, the present study was conducted to evaluate the production performance, egg geometry, and quality parameters of Lakha Aseel at different ages. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was conducted at Indigenous Chickens Genetic Resource Centre (ICGRC) of University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 42 birds of Lakha variety of Aseel were distributed in three groups with 14 birds in each group based on their ages (30, 70 and 110 weeks). Birds were reared in three tiered cages having single bird compartment and each bird was considered as a separate replicate. Birds were reared under standard managemental conditions and were given ad-lib access to water. Sixteen hours light was given to the birds. Feed was formulated according to NRC-1994 standards and 150 grams of feed was offered on daily basis. Daily feed intake, egg number and egg weight was recorded for the calculations of egg production%, egg mass, FCR/ dozen eggs and FCR/ Kg egg mass. While three eggs from each hen on monthly basis were taken for the calculations of egg quality (Egg length, Egg breadth, Egg surface area, Egg volume, egg shape index) and egg geometry parameters (Haugh unit, Yolk index, Shell thickness). The Haugh unit values were calculated for individual egg using the following formula: HU = 100 log (H – 1.7w 0.37 + 7.6) Where, H is the observed height of the albumen in millimeters and W is the weight of egg in gram. Yolk