The results indicated that in cages the highest percentages (P ≤ 0.001) of normal (74.47%), non-standard (0.85%) and cracked (1.80%) eggs were laid in the early morning (06:00 h).
On deep litter, however, the highest percentages (P ≤ 0.05) of normal sound eggs were produced at 10:00 h (35.43%) and at 14:00 h (33.03%).
In the cage system, the heaviest eggs (63.01 g) were laid in the early morning (06:00 h) and the highest shell percentage (10.33%) was in eggs laid in the afternoon and also at 10:00 h (10.31%).
the time of oviposition had no significant effect on egg weight and eggshell quality characteristics except for shell thickness.
Morning eggs had greater shell thickness (0.398 mm) than afternoon eggs (0.390 mm).