Egg
Industry’s Research Priorities:
- False Layers: Research on prevention
- Salmonella enteritidis (Food Safety): Transfer between vaccinated and unvaccinated flocks; transfer between bird, environment and egg; transfer outside to inside the egg.
- Spent hens: Composting; non-food uses
- Feed Cost/Feed Conversion: Continue research to identify alternate, economically feasible feed sources.
- Water Quality: Effects of mineral and organic excesses; research the effect of pH in drinking water re layer mortality, production, and shell quality
- Waste Management: Reducing Phosphorus in manure; alternate uses for manure – composting; storage and handling
- Environmental Quality: Air quality issues pertaining to human and poultry health; Facility testing to find base line information regarding appropriate levels of emissions, dust, ammonia; Pathogens/disease
- Bird Health: In free run/range and aviary housing systems; transportation specific to pullets
- Employee Health: Environmental Quality; Physical Concerns (objects in aviaries, climbing ladders, etc.)
Current Research Projects:
- The effects of PHYTOZEN® on bird behaviour and enrichment usage to better elucidate the possible role of bird affect and mental state on the level of success of an enrichment program (Egg Farmers of New Brunswick, ProbioTech, Canada/NB Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program)
- The role of shell proteins in controlling bacterial movement through chicken eggs (Egg Farmers of Canada, Canadian Agricultural Partnership – Advancing Agricultural Research & Innovation Initiative, Egg Farmers of NB and NS)
- To identify biomarkers of improved hen performance and egg composition in response to nutrient regimes using metabolomic analyses (Egg Farmers of NB and NS, Canadian Agricultural Partnership – Advancing Agricultural Research & Innovation Initiative)
- To determine the effect of replacing a portion of commercial soybean meal with Black Soldier Fly Meal (BSFM) and a commercial enzyme & with BSFM and ground lobster shells on several parameters of laying hen production (Egg Farmers of NB, NS, PEI & Canadian Agricultural Partnership – Advancing Agricultural Research & Innovation Initiative)
- To determine, in laying hens, the effect of feeding hemp by-products on production performance, pecking behavior, gut health and fatty liver disease ( MITACS, NB – Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program, Egg Farmers of New Brunswick and Egg Farmers of Nova Scotia, Egg Farmers of Canada)