Poultry tech, proteins, food security, health and in-ovo sexing in the spotlight

Emerging topics within poultry research, advances in poultry health and the future of poultry feed and nutrition were explored at this month’s annual NFU Poultry Research Seminar.

The event brings members of the poultry sector together with academics, innovative businesses and representatives from the wider supply chain to bridge the gap between academic research and practical on-farm solutions.

Alternative proteins

Dr Fiona Short, innovation lead for animal health and nutrition at the newly-created UK Agri-Tech Centre, spoke about exploring ways in which the organisations – created from the merger of 3 previous Agri-Tech centres – spoke about some of the current poultry research projects, with alternative proteins being a particular topic of interest.

The UK Agri-Tech Centre, in conjunction with Phytoform Labs and Soya UK, has a current project on improving the sustainability of lupins through conventional and next generation methodologies. This 2-year project employs 2 innovative approaches, namely decarbonisation strategies and harnessing genetic editing for trait improvement. This is looking at haricot beans, chick peas, faba beans.

Another 2-year project involving Vertical Future and the University of York is looking to harness the potential of vertical farming facilities to cultivate amaranth, develop a novel protein source, reduce the UK’s reliance on soy and pea, contribute to the economy and enhance human health.

Poultry meat and food security

The future of poultry meat and food security was also discussed following a presentation from Professor Emma Roe from the University of Southampton. She is leading a 3-year project aimed at forging a novel policy instrument of ethical principles for socio-economic transitions to UK food system resilience.

The chicken meat industry provides a cheap, nutritious and accessible protein source, meeting 50% of UK meat demand. But it is vulnerable to disruptions from international trading conditions, extreme weather and potential civil unrest given the central place in the nation’s diet, alongside public concern around chicken welfare and waste polluting UK rivers.

The TRI-SoMe Chicken project, which runs to 2027, aims to:

Discover situated and diverse human and animal experiences of what there is to eat, to understand experiences of vulnerability and resilience to natural, socio-economic and geo-political shocks.
Model past, present and future socio-ecological and metabolic parameters of chicken production, transformation to meat, carcass waste and slurry to understand material effects on lives, environments, markets and trade, and to enhance human and ecological system resilience risk-management.

The focus of her team’s research will be to engage with stakeholders throughout the supply chain, from low-income consumers to primary producers, processors and retailers.

In-ovo sexing

Simao Santos, a researcher at KU Leuven’s Lammertyn Lab in Belgium, explained recent changes in Europe that have seen countries such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France introduce laws to ban the culling of day-old male chicks in the laying hen sector.

Santos talked about the wide range of existing and emerging technologies that aim to allow the sex of chicks to be determined in the egg prior to hatching (in-ovo sexing). These range from genetic modifications that could see eggs containing male embryos fluoresce allowing them to be easily identified, to those which require fluid samples to be taken from inside the egg for DNA or chemical analysis.

Many techniques aim to allow the sex of chicks to be determined before day 13 of development when researchers believe chicks may first be able to perceive pain.

Poultry health and welfare advances

Paniz Hosseini, a PHD student at the University of Cambridge, spoke about the recent FluMap study, which investigated the use of AI biosecurity measures on UK poultry farms. The team conducted in-depth interviews with farm managers from across the broiler, turkey, duck, breeder and laying hen sectors, both on farms that had experienced avian influenza outbreaks and those that had not.

Hosseini said that while some biosecurity measures such as foot dips, changing boots and wheel washing and disinfection were widely followed across farms, in many cases buildings and perimeter fencing made it difficult to implement biosecurity well.

This meant that wild birds could get into commercial poultry premises and spread the avian influenza virus.

FlockWise project

David Brass, CEO of Lakes Free Range Eggs Company and Carly Scott, a director of FAI farms, talked about the FlockWise project which aims to build on their existing BirdBox sensor system.

The project aims to integrate real-time health and behaviour monitoring data using artificial intelligence to produce a system that can predict when issues are likely to arise in a flock. This could allow a stock person to intervene before mortality builds up, potentially increasing flock efficiency, welfare and lifespan of the birds.

Poultry feed and nutrition

The final part of the seminar looked at the future of poultry feed and nutrition. It began with a presentation examining the potential of duckweed, a native aquatic plant, to clean aquatic systems while simultaneously producing a high-quality alternative protein for use in animal diets.

The presentation was given by the Aberystwyth University’s Dr Dylan Gwynn-Jones who described duckweed as a ‘miracle plant’. It is tolerant of ammonium, meaning it can be grown on a range of agricultural waste waters, removing nitrogen and phosphate pollution and converting it into a high-quality protein biomass.

So far, Gwynn-Jones’ team have collaborated with several dairy farmers to trial growing duckweed on substrates such as slurry and digestate, but the plant also has significant potential to be beneficial in the poultry sector with future research likely to examine how duckweed protein can be incorporated into animal feed.

Laying hen feed efficiency

The penultimate presentation of the day was delivered by Dr Sylwia Sobolewska, who presented the findings of her Nuffield scholarship entitled ‘Feed efficiency and targeted genetic selection as the key for sustainable performance and profitability in laying hens’.

Having travelled across 3 continents and 11 countries as part of her study tour, Sobolewska identified several areas that could be focused on to improve laying hen feed efficiency.

Among her conclusions was the need to consider hen longevity when calculating feed conversion ratios, the importance of educating consumers on the environmental benefit of white eggs, and that consistent use of feed additives such as phytase, xylanase and β-glucanase is essential for improving digestion for laying hens.

Ian Mackinson, monogastric technical manager at Massey Feeds gave the closing presentation which focused on the often-emotive subject of soya. He explained that the livestock sector is often targeted in conversations regarding soya because 75% of the world’s soybean crop is used as animal feed. He noted that there is now a movement towards ensuring that the soya used within British agriculture has not been produced using deforested land or land that has been converted from other natural ecosystems.

Comparing the soon-to-be implemented EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation), which applies in EU countries with the proposed UKFRC (UK Forest Risk Commodities) regulation, Ian suggested that while the new legislation may have an impact on the price of raw materials coming into the UK, differences between legislation in the UK and EU could provide a potential market opportunity for British producers.