Treating Your Hens Right Webinar
A Novus Knowledge seminar on mineral nutrition
Novus recently held a webinar titled “Treating your hens right” with Professor Douglas Korver from the University of Alberta on 8th May 2020. The webinar was the first in a series that Novus will do for its partners and customers to address challenges in animal health and nutrition.
Because of the COVID 19 situation, there has been an increase in both demand and price for table eggs as most of the populace are staying at home. The webinar’s objective was to provide insights to egg layer producers, who are extending their hen’s laying production, to meet the current high demand. Professor Korver focused on eggshell quality, which is normally affected by longer laying periods, and corelated the improvement to the effects of organic trace minerals. He also gave recommendations on dietary additives and management of the laying hen to address egg quality issues. Professor Korver mentioned that the key to addressing eggshell quality is really to prepare the hen during the pullet stage by paying special attention to appropriate body size and composition.
According to Professor Korver, preparing the pullet to the rigors of laying is the first step to ensuring that the hen will have a good production run. The inclusion of highly bioavailable trace minerals such as zinc, copper and manganese in the diet, will assist the hen to address eggshell and egg quality issues as production is prolonged to address current market needs.
For more information, visit www.novusint.com.