Pressure is mounting on poultry farmers to prevent phosphate contamination of rivers and changes to layer diets is one way the poultry sector can reduce phosphate excretion from birds.
In Season 3, Episode 1 of the Wynnstay Agri-Hub Podcast, my colleague Julie Wright, Company Nutritionist at Wynnstay, and Eloise Lawlor, Commercial Poultry Nutritionist at Premier Nutrition, explain how they have reduced phosphorus levels in Wynnstay rations and why this is important for egg producers.
Did you know that approximately 2% of all eggs show some sort of defect, ranging from the barely noticeable to the very obvious.
Now that we are 6 weeks into the ‘hen lockdown’ as a result of avian influenza, there are several things to consider and jobs to be done to keep hens happy and content, and ensure they are prepared for when pop holes can reopen.
From the 14th December, free-range layers will need to be housed to comply with new government measures which have been put in place to reduce the spread of avian influenza.
Due to the recent cases of High Path Avian Influenza (H5N1) in both captive/commercial poultry and in the wild bird population, the governments of England, Wales and Scotland have declared Great Britain an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ).
In our previous blog 'How to Keep Your Birds Healthy through a Bird Flu Outbreak', we listed a number of ways in which you can keep your birds healthy during the Avian Influenza housing order. One area we recommended focusing on was flock enrichment, hens must be kept active in order to help reduce stress levels and avoid destructive and aggressive behaviour.
UK egg consumption has increased in recent years, with an average UK consumer now eating 2.2 eggs per week, while free-range egg sales have doubled since 2004, now representing 67% of retail egg sales. This steady growth has made diversification into free-range egg production an attractive option. Here’s what those thinking about getting into poultry should consider.
Wynnstay have introduced the revolutionary CracklessEgg™technology to help their poultry feed customers save hundreds or even thousands of pounds in wasted, cracked eggs on their poultry farms.
The general concern about animal welfare, especially for laying hens, is continuously increasing in consumers and farmers. This attention leads to spending time and efforts to understand if our birds are stressed or not, through many different indicators both deriving from animal observation (behavior, performance, fearfulness) and laboratory analysis (Alm et al., 2016; Rodenburg et al., 2008).
