Water Footprint Assessment of Eggs in a Parent-Stock Layer Breeder Farm

Haohan Xing,Yuanhui Zhang,Baoming Li,Weichao Zheng,Zhidan Liu

doi:10.3390/w11122546

Abstract

Egg production and consumption of eggs in China account for about 40% of the global total, and this constitutes a significant demand for water resources. The shortage of water resources in China means egg production in this country has serious water challenges. However, there are few studies concerning water use in egg production. In this study, the water footprint network (WFN) methodology was applied to analyze the water footprint (WF) of intensive egg production using a typical parent-stock layer breeder farm in North China as a model, which raises 208,663 layer breeders and produces about 2791.39 t eggs per year. The feed and water consumption over 353 days were collected for analysis, and the water footprint of chicken eggs was estimated at the farm level. The water footprint of eggs in a parent-stock layer breeder farm in China was therefore assessed in detail for the first time, and suggestions are put forward to reduce the egg water footprint from the perspective of the production chain and improving water use efficiency on the farm. The results show that (1) the green WF of eggs (water volume/egg weight) ranged from 1.917 to 2.114 m3/kg, the blue WF was 0.584 to 0.644 m3/kg and the grey WF was 0.488 to 0.538 m3/kg; (2) the indirect WF generated by feed contributed over 99.8% of the total; (3) eggs laid by Hy-line Brown hens have a lower WF than those from Hy-line Sonia hens, and the studied layer breeder farm had a higher WF than the global average based on the literature. In this paper, the variation of the WF was also analyzed, and some advice on water management for layer farms in China is provided.

Highlights

Global demand for livestock products is increasing with the growth of the world population, and the improvement of diets in developing countries is proving a challenge to the sustainable utilization of water resources
water footprint (WF) was 0.584 to 0.644 m3 /kg and the grey WF was 0.488 to 0.538 m3 /kg; (2) the indirect WF generated by feed contributed over 99.8% of the total; (3) eggs laid by Hy-line Brown hens have a lower WF than those from Hy-line Sonia hens, and the studied layer breeder farm had a higher WF than the global average based on the literature
The main objective of this study is to quantify the WF of the egg production chain, assess the local impacts resulting from water consumption and the differences in the WF of eggs laid by two species of laying hens

Summary

Introduction

Global demand for livestock products is increasing with the growth of the world population, and the improvement of diets in developing countries is proving a challenge to the sustainable utilization of water resources. Water conservation in animal production is a critical issue for governments, producers and the public, which could be relieved by increasing animal production efficiency [4]. Economic development, contributing to the improvement of diets, tends to correspond to an increased demand for animal products, such as has occurred in China and Brazil [5,6]. In China, water consumption related to food production has maintained an upward. Water 2019, 11, 2546 tendency due to a dietary shift towards more water-intensive animal products [7]. Water conservation in animal production is crucial for water sustainability and animal agriculture

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Conclusion