<![CDATA[Table eggs reaching remote tropical markets can experience heterogeneous postharvest histories before purchase, yet retail-level evidence from eastern Indonesia remains limited. This study compared external and internal quality profiles of commercial chicken eggs sold through traditional and modern retail channels in Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from June to August 2025 at six purposively selected outlets, comprising three traditional and three modern markets. Twenty-four eggs were sampled per outlet (144 eggs total). External quality included egg weight, shell thickness, and shell-colour score; internal quality included albumen index, yolk index, Haugh Unit (HU), and yolk-colour score. Because eggs were nested within only six outlets and outlet-level raw data were unavailable for cluster-aware inference, the final analysis emphasizes descriptive channel profiles rather than egg-level hypothesis tests. External traits were closely similar between channels: egg weight was 61.55 ± 5.25 versus 60.25 ± 4.65 g, shell thickness 0.431 ± 0.034 versus 0.440 ± 0.030 mm, and shell-colour score 13.67 ± 0.93 versus 13.33 ± 1.29 for traditional and modern markets, respectively. Larger descriptive separation occurred for albumen index (0.030 ± 0.006 versus 0.040 ± 0.007), HU (59.60 ± 7.36 versus 66.29 ± 6.67), and yolk-colour score (7.61 ± 1.06 versus 6.35 ± 1.28). The sampled channels therefore showed similar external appearance but different internal-quality profiles. These associations should not be interpreted causally because egg age, supply origin, storage duration, temperature history, transport, and outlet-level clustering were not directly resolved.]]>
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