Egg quality traits of local Ghanaian chickens from two agro-ecological zones were measured and compared with those of an imported breed, SASSO T44 chickens from the day of lay to a period of 21 days in storage. On the average SASSO T44 chickens had significantly (P < 0.05) higher egg weight, shell weight, albumen height (AH), albumen weight, yolk weight, albumen ratio and Haugh units (HU). Eggs of the local chicken ecotypes had significantly (P < 0.05) higher yolk ratios than the SASSO T44 birds with chickens from the forest zone being superior (P < 0.05) to those from the savannah in AH. Fluctuations in egg quality traits during the 3-week study period were similar in the three ecotypes studied. Conversion of AH to HU narrowed the gap in egg quality performance between local and SASSO T44 chickens. There was a negative effect of storage time on egg quality irrespective of the chicken ecotype. It was recommended that chicken eggs should be kept at temperatures cooler than ambient temperatures to minimize deterioration of their quality.
