„Weiße Braunleger“ – Sind diese neuen TMA-toleranten Legehennen-Hybriden für den Ökolandbau geeignet?

Summary

Rape cake can be a good source of high protein for laying hens. Consumers in Ger-many prefer brown organic eggs and pay a higher price than for white eggs. Brown eggs are produced from hybrids which can have a genetic deficit for digesting Sinap-ine – a glucosinolate in rape cake - and produce “fish-eggs”. Rape cake has to be treated at a high temperature to destroy the glucosinolate, but this treatment is expen-sive. A new hybrid hen– Lohmann Silver TMAfrei – has no genetic deficit and still produces brown eggs. In a feeding experiment in 2004 and 2005, this hybrid showed comparable production and performance results to TETRA SL (typical organic hybrid) and LSL (white egg producer). The breed is suitable for use should feed stuffs with high glucosinolate contents be used.