April 27, 2023

 

First public facility for egg research, training in Canada opens

 

 

 

Canada's first public facility for egg research, education and training opened its doors in Manitoba on April 26.

 

The Manitoba Egg Farmer Learning and Research Centre was created thanks to a partnership between Manitoba Egg Farmers, the University of Manitoba as well as Canada's federal and provincial governments.

 

The new facility, located about 28 kilometres south of Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba's Glenlea Research Station, will promote and strengthen the research being done on modern egg production techniques and technologies, while also showing the public what egg farmers do.

 

"Manitoba doesn't have another facility like this where the general public can … come and see these birds," Kurt Siemens, Manitoba Egg Farmer’s director, told CBC News.

 

The centre features two biosecure barns — one where the birds are free-run and another with enriched housing, which gives the birds access to a nesting box and a perch. Both have windows for the public to safely view the laying hens.

 

Siemens said it's the first facility that combines public education on egg farming with research.

 

The new facility brings together different people, perspectives and researchers, said Dr. Jim House, a University of Manitoba professor at the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences.

 

"You've got researchers all the way from engineering, animal science, nutrition programmes, data management, artificial intelligence — all of these folks will be able to collaborate on programmes, so that will allow us to address and evaluate the entire system that goes into producing eggs," he told CBC News.

 

The centre has a private section for University of Manitoba students and researchers, and the two housing systems will enable them to examine the health of the laying hens, according to House.

 

The ultimate goal of the new centre is to ensure that the data collected is being put to use through the centre's relationships with Manitoba Egg Farmers and Egg Farmers of Canada, Dr. House said.

 

Research at the centre will also examine how changes in the diets of laying hens can influence the nutritional profile of their eggs, according to Dr. House. That data can be used by researchers for human trials to better understand the role of eggs in helping to combat eye and cardiovascular diseases.

 

Manitoba has approximately 2.6 million laying hens, representing almost 10% of Canada's market share, according to Manitoba Egg Farmers. That's about 76 million dozen eggs being produced in Manitoba each year.

 

- CBC