Cracked eggs, thin-shelled eggs, soft-shelled eggs … That’s only a few of the production losses layer farmers face regarding egg quality. Especially in the later stages of the production cycle, egg quality may decline. Improving egg quality is thus one of the cornerstones of prolonging a laying hen’s production cycle, therefore life, and moving towards more sustainable poultry farming practices. After all, a layer farmer’s goal is to produce as many good quality eggs as possible.
Nutriforte Ca/P trial
Good egg shell quality requires calcium and phoshorus. These essential minerals not only play an important role in egg shell formation, but also aid in bone development and cellular regulating metabolism.
We offers an optimal calcium and phosphorus level with our drinking water additive Nutriforte Ca/P. To evaluate its benefits on eggshell quality, a study was conducted in three laying hen houses. Percentages of cracked eggs and bad quality eggs were measured before and after supplementation of 1 litre Nutriforte Ca/P per 1000 litre drinking water. In addition, eggshell thickness was measured.
Results
As is visible in the graph, before Nutriforte Ca/P supplementation the percentage of cracked and bad quality eggs fluctuated quite a lot. Overall, however, there was a increase in both categories (i.e. more broken eggs and more bad quality eggs were found on average as the hens got older).
With Nutriforte Ca/P supplementation, there was a decrease in the percentage of broken eggs over time. In addition, the percentage of bad eggs decreased. This suggests that the administration of Nutriforte Ca/p contributed to a reduction in the number of cracked eggs and poor quality eggs.
Before Nutriforte Ca/P supplementation, eggshell thickness remained almost stable between 0.38 mm and 0.39 mm. During application of Nutriforte Ca/P, an increase in shell thickness was seen, rising to 0.42 mm. This increased shell thickness may contribute to the reduced number of cracked eggs found.
Conclusion
From these test results, it can be concluded that the use of Nutriforte Ca/P contributes to improved eggshell thickness, and a decreased number of cracked eggs and bad quality eggs.
By optimizing the hen’s calcium-phosphorus ratio, Nutriforte Ca/P helps farmers prevent production losses due to egg quality. Do you want to know more about Nutriforte Ca/P?
We would like to thank our partner Vet Inter Group for their cooperation during this trial.
