There are 36 million UK laying hens producing 10 billion eggs with a retail value of £1 billion. In the EU 335 million hens generate E10 billion, and globally there are nearly 5 billion hens producing over 1 trillion eggs. Egg production is a major wealth creator and a key element of global food production. In the EU, battery cage systems have been banned, with much of the production switched to free range systems (FRS). Similar legislation is proposed in many other countries, including India and the USA. FRS provide many health and welfare benefits to laying hens, however two major threats to welfare and production have recently emerged which require urgent action. Keel bone fractures effect on average 60% of hens in FRS, with some systems as high as 90%. These are painful and reduce productivity and profit. With up to 20 million UK hens suffering from keel fractures each year, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee regard this as the most serious problem of hen welfare. Injurious feather pecking (IFP) affects as many as half the hens in over three quarters of all FRS, resulting in pain, decreased egg production, increased feed consumption, and often leading to cannibalism and death. Beak trimming, the main means of controlling IFP, is now banned in a number of EU countries, with a UK ban proposed for 2016, leaving producers with no effective means of control. Urgent action is therefore needed to devise an alternative strategy to reduce levels of IFP. Welfare in laying hens remains a serious public concern, with over 75% of UK and EU citizens regarding hen welfare as inadequate. We have shown that impacts with structures within housing systems during normal activities are the major cause of keel fractures. However, hazardous housing structures cannot be entirely eliminated, and reducing activity, as seen in battery hens, seriously impairs skeletal function. We have shown that FRS hens making greater use of the range are more likely to remain fracture-free. However, range use in many systems remains very low, and the potential benefits of ranging are not being realised. We hypothesise that increased range use will promote activity away from hazardous structures, improving bone strength and skeletal function, but avoiding injurious impacts which generate keel damage. Similarly, we and others have indicated that ranging significantly reduces IFP, with an 89% drop in systems with substantial range use. Thus we hypothesise that action to increase range use will reduce incidence and severity of IFP, and encourage natural foraging behaviours. The aim is to determine whether actions to increase activity and natural behaviours in a safe environment will substantially and significantly reduce keel fractures and IFP in laying hens. However, ranging and activity may have other health and production consequences, and these will be examined at flock and individual level, allowing us to determine the effects of range use on the overall wellbeing of hens and the economic impact for the producers. This study will combine video monitoring, welfare assessments, cutting-edge activity logging developed in previous BBSRC funded research, and light-level monitoring technology provided by Biotrack, a leading animal monitoring specialist. We will compare normal FRS, enhanced FRS and barn systems to get a breadth of individual and flock activity, ranging and behaviours. For the first time, this will allow evaluation of range use and activity in flocks and individual hens in commercial production units, provided by Stonegate, our Industrial Partner, one of the UK's leading egg producers. By examining welfare outcomes of feather pecking behaviour, plumage scores and keel fractures, we can assess relationships with fracture incidence and IFP levels. We will further determine how activity relates to biomechanical, metabolic, physiological and radiological changes in bone, to better understand how exercise influences skeletal function in chickens.

The demand for poultry eggs and meat is increasing globally. The poultry industry contributes £4.6 billion per year to the UK economy. The UK produces more than 10 billion table eggs a year, 65% of which comes from free-range farms. Currently, no data is available on the total number of eggs lost in the free-range farms. However, based on a study by Scottish Rural College (SRU), it is estimated that egg losses amount to approximately 6-25% per flock, which totals to no less than 30-130 million eggs a year. To date, there have been no retrospective studies on health and production of free-range flocks in UK, or on the influence of various routine farm practices on birds' health and production. In fact, in recent years, a new strain of hybrid hens (eg. HyLine) has been introduced to egg farming. These hens stay on egg production for over 100 weeks of age, instead of the conventional 72-80 weeks, but the pre-lay vaccination programme remains the same. There has also been much variations in in-lay health management such as type, frequency and duration of deworming, mite control, antibiotics usages, and in-lay vaccination farm activities. A notable observation by field veterinarians is that at present, there is no information on coinfection or waning immunity of free-range egg laying flocks on the drops in egg production and quality. Coinfection by one or more of the following pathogens have been strongly implicated with egg losses; i) infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), ii) avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), iii) Mycoplasma gallisepticum (Mg), Mycoplasma synoviae (Ms) and iv) Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), and v) infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT), but to date, there is little or no scientific evidence. This proposed study, for the first time in the UK, investigates two main variables; coinfection and immunity levels of flocks from 16 weeks to culling ages of the birds. Flock health and production will be assessed concurrently to appreciate statistical association between these variables. Results from the proposed project will establish a link between egg production pattern, immune status of flocks, influence of farm practices, and the role of single or coinfections. Science-based evidence from this study will be used to demonstrate the following, i) the normal and abnormal egg production patterns in free-range flocks in UK, ii) the association between various routine farm practices such as parasite control, vaccinal immunity, antibiotics usages on egg production pattern, iii) a list of common causes of EPQ drops, d) ways to strengthen the pre-lay and in-lay vaccination in order to sustain higher and prolonged immunity in flocks. The research outputs of this project would benefit the UK and global farming industry.

Higher agricultural productivity and sustainability is critical to meeting the global challenges of food security in the presence of climate change. Legume crops are a critical source of plant-based proteins for people and animals. As the world demand for animal products increases, the demand for vegetable proteins as animal feedstocks also rises and the UK in common with other countries faces a shortfall in domestic vegetable protein production capability. In the EU 70% of the protein fed to animals is imported, mostly soyabean or soya meal with soya meal accounting for 33% of the protein in UK livestock feeds. In 2011-12 UK imports of soya products reached 1.83 million tonnes, the majority of this being transgenic soya imported from South America. Increasing the amount of UK grown protein to replace imported soya products is recognised as a major challenge for the UK animal feed sector. In this LINK proposal we will develop and apply new genetic approaches to enhance the nutritional value (protein and water soluble carbohydrate) of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) seed, to increase the use of pea as a high quality feed in animal diets, reducing the UK protein deficit from the import of soya products and also delivering environmental benefits to livestock production systems. The proposal builds on knowledge gained in BBSRC, EU, Defra, Innovate UK and levy board-funded research on the genetics and agronomy of pulses that have led to the development of novel lines of pea with higher protein content. We will use our expertise in plant genomics, pea genetics and breeding, agronomy, plant chemistry and animal nutrition to integrate the germplasm with improved grain composition into improved pea varieties. With industry partners from the poultry and pig sector as well as crop developers, we will analyse the impact of replacing soya with these new pea varieties in feed rations on the growth of monogastrics and poultry and the economic and environmental impact of their inclusion. Although the focus is on poultry and monogastrics, the project will provide information on the value of including these new pea lines for other sectors (ruminants and aquaculture).

The increasing frequency of extreme climate events in the UK suggests the approach of the 'Perfect Storm' described by Beddington (2009). In 2012 an early season drought followed by extreme rainfall and flooding over extensive areas of the UK drove the need for the 'climate smart' agriculture that will be used here to address the dual challenges of climate change and food security. Over an 80h period in November 2012, more than 46 x 106L of rain fell on the North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP), 90% of which was immediately lost as overland flow or in drainage. Droughts also challenge the sustainability of UK grasslands and occur increasingly in winter where the warmer temperatures now encountered encourage continued winter growth placing drought susceptible varieties at risk. UK grasslands occupy 65% of all available agricultural land and unlike most other crops comprise perennial species that provide crop yields over many years. The combination of their extensive land-cover and persistency provides grasslands opportunities for environmental service in addition to their traditional roles as high quality forage for livestock agriculture. This is achieved through selection of the appropriate varieties and when necessary their modification, and improved grassland management, with benefits likely to persist over years. Grasslands provide catchments for many UK rivers and act as regulators of water capture, its release, and quality dependent on their composition. IBERS is widely recognised for innovative approaches to breeding grass and clover varieties. However, variety development has untill now neglected programmes to improve root design or the opportunities for improved root-soil interactions that will deliver improved soil structure, hydrology, nutrient use and reduce the compaction that compromises crop yields. A recent BBSRC study published in Nature Scientific Reports (involving the PI of this proposal) demonstrated the potential for a novel grass species hybrid to initiate significant root-soil interactions that would if reproduced at the field-scale generate significant benefits in terms of flood control (DOI:10.1038/srep01683). Equivalent results have been recorded in white clover. In the current project, the potential of both for flood control will be assessed at the field scale, independently and as mixtures. The project will use two new BBSRC-supported National Capabilities: the National Plant Phenomics Centre (NPPC) and the North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP). The project will investigate at different scales from the individual plant genotype, to the plot, through to the crop the potential for environmental service that may be achieved through a modified root design or growth pattern. The results achieved from the NPCC and NWFP facilities will be validated by testing selected varieties on commercial farms in diverse locations and under alternative livestock management systems. The proposal will use the latest BBSRC high-throughput phenomic and genomic technologies, with a suite of well characterised and relevant experimental populations together with molecular markers to engage in marker-assisted breeding for improved root designs in elite forage grass and clover varieties. Plant materials suitable for entry into National List trials will be developed within the time-course of the project. This proposal is being submitted through the BBSRC stand-alone LINK scheme. The project will benefit from the involvement of industrial partners that represent the various sectors of the UK grassland and livestock industry allowing for identification and review of key targets, and evaluation of the impact of the research, dissemination of the results within the grassland sector, and uptake and delivery of project outcomes.