Selectable markers for improved welfare in Swedish Laying hens

Laying hens are likely to suffer from bone fractures (legs or keel) caused by osteoporosis, making this the major welfare challenge in the egg production industry. Bone fractures and other forms of skeletal damage are a major welfare problem in laying hens. Fracture incidences of 29% were reported some time ago in the U.K., but recent information is suggesting that the severity and scale of the problem is getting worse. This project will identify genomic regions affection bone strength in egglaying chicken (layers) and assess their potential welfare benefits in different environments. The specific project aims are as follows:

a) Identify selectable DNA markers in a commercial breeding population

b) Quantify the current welfare level of commercial layers in terms of bone strength and other welfare indicators in different housing regimes

c) Evaluate the contribution of the identified DNA markers to bone strength in commercial layers and their pleiotropic effects on other welfare indicators

The project is financed by FORMAS and include researchers from several departments at SLU (Animal Breeding and Genetics, Animal Nutrition and Management and Animal Environment and Health), Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University and several researchers from the Roslin Institute.