White hens are far more’carbon-neutral’. In relation to their brown counterparts welsh study finds
White hens and eggs could be the method for egg farmers to become more carbon-neutral, a Welsh study has discovered.
Farmer Llyr Jones was awarded a Farming Link Management Exchange Programme bursary to research the way the free range egg producer like himself can reduce the ammonia produced from egg production.
Mr Jones runs a free range egg unit at Derwydd, at Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr close Corwen, and he wished to decrease ammonia levels while maintaining production. His Farming Link Management Exchange study took him to Kipster, a carbon-free egg farm in Holland populated by cows that were white. Kipster claims that a white hen will eat 118g of feed per day to produce this size of egg.
125g/ evening to generate a 63g egg.
As well as consuming less feed, the Kipster white hens lay for an average of 80 weeks, compared to 74 weeks to get brown hens.
UK shopp ers still prefer to purchase extra large brown eggs over other colours and sizes, but Mr Jones said:”[To decrease our carbon footprint] consumers may need to make modest alterations, like buying white, slightly smaller eggs instead of extra-large brown eggs and buying local seasonal food instead of flying it from the opposite side of earth.”
He also conclud ed that small changes in farming routines, such as the mucking out of cows every day instead of twice a week, and planting trees around the hens’ range helps farmers to decrease carbon emissions.
“Seventy per cent of land in the UK is used for agriculture. I believe that farmers will be a vital link in the series for reducing air pollution in the UK.