Noble Foods help fund study into effects of Omega 3 on bone conditions in free range layers

One study that has already won funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council will look in greater detail at the effect of omega-3 on the incidence of bone breakage in free range layers. A total of £1.7million has been awarded to Dr John Tarlton of the Matrix Biology Research Group in the School of Clinical Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol. The study, which is being undertaken with the help of Noble Foods, will look at how omega-3 may help laying hens avoid bone damage. The study will last three years.

John Tarlton, who will be in charge of the study, spoke to the Ranger about the background to the study and how the idea for the work had developed. He said that the new study followed on from a previous study he had undertaken for Defra into the incidence and timing of bone breakage in layers. Columbus flocks from Noble had been included in that earlier study and the results indicated that there was 40 per cent less bone breakage in the Columbus flocks – fed from 23 weeks on an omega-3 diet – than in other birds. He said he now wanted to produce clear evidence that omega-3 did reduce bone breakage.

"There is a very strong indication from the previous study, but no proof," said John who said that the new study would involve a controlled comparison between layers on an omega-3 diet and those on a conventional diet.

The study will take place on a unit provided by Noble Foods. John said that Noble had been very helpful in providing the facilities for the study to be undertaken. They had agreed to partition the sheds and adjust the system for the duration of the study.

Two houses, each with 12,000 hens, will be used for the research. Each house will be divided into eight pens. Each of the eight pens will house 1,500 hens. All of the birds will be housed on identical free range systems.

The birds in one house will be fed an omega-3 diet; those in the other house will receive a standard diet. Bone breakage in each of the flocks will then be compared. In the second year of the study John will feed omega-3 up to 35 weeks. The omega-3 will then be removed from the diet to ascertain how long the benefits of omega-3 continue to persist. This was an important consideration for producers, he said. The third year of the study will be spent analysing the results of the study.

John says that as well as raising welfare issues, fractures can also reduce a producer’s economic viability and increase costs. He hopes that by feeding hens on omega-3, he will be able to substantially improve welfare and reduce costs.

Bristol University’s Department of Clinical Veterinary Science is located in the village of Langford in North Somerset, some 15 miles south west of Bristol on the edge of the Mendips. The main interests of the Matrix Biology Group are collagen biochemistry and bone biology. Its aims are to determine how molecules function in cells and tissues under normal conditions and to understand what goes wrong in disease processes.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which is providing finance for the study, is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £450 million in a wide range of research. Funding goes into the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.