Trimethylene Research with Laying Hens

Researcher:

Dr. Hank L. Classen, A.K. Ward and F.C. Buchanan, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan

Project Code:

CUP 11/05-04

Final Report:

2006

Summary:

Feeding canola meal to brown-shelled laying hens can result in the production of eggs with a fishy odor. Fishy-egg tainting is a nutrigenetic condition because both genetic and dietary factors must be present for egg tainting to occur. The purpose of this study was to characterize the inheritance pattern of fishy-egg tainting when hens are fed canola meal at levels reflecting maximum use based on conventional formulation of laying hen diets. Researchers concluded that fishy-egg tainting is recessively expressed when hens are fed canola meal at levels of 12 to 24% inclusion.