Measure the uptake of high dietary oleic acid into products from non-ruminants and analyze the effects of the inclusion of high dietary oleic acid on the production performance of non-ruminants. We predict that the inclusion of high oleic soybean oil in diets of non-ruminants will not negatively impact production performance, while at the same time products from these animals will possess fatty acid profiles higher in oleic acid.

White leghorn hens (n=360) will be divided randomly into 2 treatment groups containing 60 replicate pens of 3 hens each. The treatment groups will consist of a control diet (conventional soybean oil) and a diet containing high oleic soybean oil. Hens will be proved feed and water on an ad libitum basis. Hens will be analyzed throughout the experiment for egg production and feed efficiency. The experimental period will be ages from 22 to 46 weeks, with hens having a 7 day diet acclamation period leading up to week 22. Egg production and lost eggs will be recorded daily on a per pen basis. Eggs to be used for break out quality and composition analysis will be collected every 2 weeks within 24 hours of lay for a total of 12 times. Sample collection will be from hens aged 24 to 46 weeks. Collected eggs will be analyzed for quality and composition using the methods described below. Eggs collected for analysis will be refrigerated for 24 hours prior to analysis.

Feed disappearance, changes in body weight, and egg production will be recorded for each pen throughout the length of the experiment. From this data, egg production, feed intake, average egg weight, feed conversion ratio per kilogram of eggs and per dozen of eggs and body weight gain (BWG) will be calculated.

Eggs collected from each pen during sampling periods will be weighed and recorded prior to further testing. Egg shell strength, expressed in kg/cm2, will be evaluated applying increased pressure to the broad pole of the egg using a press meter (Egg Force Reader, Sanovo Technology A/S, Odense, Denmark) as indicated by Safaa et al. (2008). Shell thickness (average of 3 measurements per egg) will be measured with a digital micrometer (model IT-014UT, Mitotuyo, Kawasaki, Japan). The proportion of albumen, yolk and shell of the eggs will be determined in all the eggs used for egg quality measurements. The Haugh units will be calculated for each egg sampled. The yolk color of eggs will be analyzed using a Minolta Chroma Meter CR-300 (Minolta Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan) as described previously by Hammershøj and Steenfeldt (2012).