Egg Market in a Slump! Bioactive Peptides Help Reduce Layer Feed Costs

Chengdu Mytech Biotech co., Ltd. Product R&D Department

Author | Liu Sen

Editor | Wang Lu

Translator | Nicholas Deng

Background of Solution Development

In 2026, China’s stock of laying hens in production was approximately 1.296 billion. The general husbandry in poultry industry met a widespread loss in 2025. Judging from this year’s overall laying hen inventory and new chick placement, egg prices remain far from optimistic. Therefore, on the premise of ensuring stable laying performance and egg quality, cost reduction is one of the most economically efficient and vital approaches to address the market downturn for husbandry and feed enterprises.

 Data source: Mysteel

Solution Development Basis

In view of the layer breeding trend: Take Lohman Pink as an example: the peak laying rate has been increased by 2 percentage points (from 95% to 97%), the peak laying duration has been extended by approximately 2 months, and the egg weight has decreased by 1.5-3.0 g/egg. Correspondingly, the protein and amino acid nutrient requirements of laying hens during the laying period have also increased accordingly. Consequently, we can see the variations in basic nutrient requirements due to breeding are highly significant. Our earlier collaborative research with Purdue University (USA) and Massey University (New Zealand) revealed that low-molecular-weight bioactive peptides can significantly improve chickens’ feed nutrient conversion efficiency by over 5%. Based on the above market changes and breeding improvements, we propose a cost-reduction solution based on bioactive peptides.

We take the following aspects as the basis for developing cost-reduction solutions using bioactive peptides:

1. Basis for the Design of Dietary Nutrient Levels

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1 Referring to values of breeding standards

Based on the average daily feed intake range of 105–115 g per bird for laying hens during the laying period, we selected one breed at one production stage for determination. Taking Lohmann Pink (50–70 weeks of age) as an example, with a feed intake of 105–115 g per bird, the metabolizable energy requirement is 2725 kcal/kg, the crude protein requirement is 16.3% (15.7–17.1%), and the energy-protein ratio is 167 (159–174).

stage	ME	Metabolizable Energy （kcal/kg）	Protein （g/Day）	Protein（%）	Ca （g/Day）	Available P （g/Day）	Lys （g/Day）		Met （g/Day）	Trp （g/Day）	Thr （g/Day）
Lohmann Pink laying hen
19-50 wk of age	2725kcal/kg	2725	18.50	16.8	4.10	0.42	0.97	0.48		0.21	0.68
50-70 wk of age	2725kcal/kg	2725	18.00	16.3	4.40	0.40	0.94	0.47		0.21	0.66
>70 wk of age	2725kcal/kg	2725	17.00	15.5	4.50	0.38	0.91	0.45		0.20	0.63
Hy-Line Brown
Onset of lay-2%	315--330kcal/Day	2739-3000	17.90	16.3	4.00	0.432	0.909	0.446		0.213	0.684
2%-92%	310-325kcal/Day	2696-2952	17.60	16.0	4.20	0.405	0.887	0.435		0.208	0.667
91%-88%	305-320kcal/Day	2652-2905	16.70	15.2	4.40	0.373	0.854	0.419		0.200	0.642
87%-83%	300-315kcal/Day	2609-2857	16.30	14.8	4.60	0.347	0.816	0.401		0.191	0.614
<83%	300-315kcal/Day	2609-2857	15.50	14.1	4.70	0.324	0.766	0.376		0.180	0.576

2 Referring to actual nutrient levels

Field investigations have revealed significant variations in the designed nutrient levels during the laying period among different farms.  It is recommended that comprehensive breeding values be taken into account in the design of basic nutrient levels. As shown in the table below, the energy-to-protein ratio ranges from 169 to 176 for overseas imported pink-shell laying hen breeds at 50–70 weeks of age.

Customer name	Housing condition	Breed	Age (weeks)	Designed ME Level (kcal/kg)	Feed Intake (g/bird)	Designed CP Level (%)	CP Requirement (%)	ME/Protein Ratio
Customer1	Semi-open	Hy-Line Gray	45-75	2712	123	15.7	14.6	173
		Lohmann Pink	45-75	2712	119	15.7	14.6	173
		Hy-Line Brown	63	2740	130	15.6	13.8	176
Customer2	Enclosed	Lohmann Gray	70	2660	110	15.6	16.4	171
Customer3	Enclosed	Hy-Line Gray Lohmann Pink	Laying Peak	2700	108-120	16	15.0-16.6	169

3 Referring to literature reports on energy-to-protein ratio

There is limited literature available on the energy-to-protein ratio, and most studies have been formulated based on brown-shell laying hens (Hy-Line Brown). The absolute metabolizable energy and protein levels proposed in the literature are considerably higher than those used in practical production (see the table below for details). However, the energy-to-protein ratio range of 170–174 can be used as a reference.

Breed	Stage	Experimental Design (kcal/kg)	Feed intake (g/bird)	Significant Effects	Energy-to-protein ratio	References
Hy-Line Brown	30-50W	Treatment 1: 280 kcal/kg ME, 16.5% CP Treatment 2: 2800 kcal/kg ME, 14.5% CP Treatment 3 :2700 kcal/kg ME, 16.5% CP Treatment 4: 2700 kcal/kg ME, 14.5% CP	Treatment 1:130.5 Treatment 2:129.6 Treatment 3:135.9 Treatment 4:137.3	Treatment 1 showed a significant increase in egg weight and numerically better results for other production indices.	2800/16.5=170	(Chan-Ho Kim, 2022)
Hy-Line Brown	33-43W	Treatment 1: 3050 kcal/kg ME, 17.5% CP Treatment 2: 2950 kcal/kg ME, 17.5% CP Treatment 3: 2850 kcal/kg ME, 17.5% CP Treatment 4: 2750 kcal/kg ME, 17.5% CP	Treatment 1:126.9 Treatment 2:127.9 Treatment 3:131.1 Treatment 4:133.1	Treatment 1 achieved the best production performance.	3050/17.5=174	(Hwan et al., 2018)

Based on the breeding manual values, actual customer application values and literature reports, it is recommended that the energy-to-protein ratio during the laying period be 170–177, with the formulated basal nutrient levels as: ME 2700–2750 kcal/kg, CP 15.6%–16.3%.

2. Formulation Basis for Reducing Dietary Nutrient Levels Using Bioactive Peptides

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Referencing Research Findings on Peptides Enhancing Nutrient Digestibility

Group	Type	N / CP	GE	Collaborating Universities
Control Group	White Broilers	71.6%	67.3%	Massey University, New Zealand
Small Peptide Group (0.5%)		76.9%	71.4%
Improvement		5.3 percentage points（↑7.4%）	4.1 percentage points（↑6.1%）
Control Group	White Broilers	-	76.5%	Purdue University, USA
Small Peptide Group (0.4%)		-	77.1%
Improvement		-	0.6 percentage points（↑0.8%）
Control Group	Layers	33.45% (CP)	81.24%	Sichuan Agricultural University
Small Peptide Group (0.5%)		39.87%（CP）	83.91%
Improvement		6.42 percentage points（↑19%）	2.67 percentage points（↑3.3%）

Based on R&D findings on digestibility improvement by bioactive peptides (which increase dietary protein digestibility by 5% and gross energy digestibility by 3%), combined with the energy-to-protein ratio (170–177), it can be estimated that supplementing bioactive peptides in laying hen diets can theoretically reduce the crude protein level by a maximum of 0.8% and the metabolizable energy level by 80 kcal/kg.

Conclusion

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Based on the recommended basal nutrient levels (ME 2700–2750 kcal/kg, CP 15.6–16.3%), Mytech proposes the following cost-reduction solution using bioactive peptides:

• Dosage: 3 kg/t bioactive peptides

• Supplementation scheme: Reduce crude protein by 0.3–0.5% and metabolizable energy by 30–50 kcal/kg based on the basal nutrient levels.

• Cost change: Cost reduction of 15–50 RMB/t (calculated based on current market prices of corn-soybean meal).

Application Cases of Cost-Reduction Solutions

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1 Application Solutions

• Trial Flock

  • Breed: Lohmann Pink

  • Scale: 50,000 heads (Control Group) vs. 50,000 heads (Bioactive Peptide Group)

  • Phase: Post 360 days of age

  • Trial Period: 1.5 months

  • Housing Conditions: Enclosed chicken house

• Nutrition Solution

  • Dosage: 3 kg/T SP900-B

  • Supplementation Method: Reduce ME by 18 kcal/kg and CP by 0.21% (remove 5 kg soybean oil and 11 kg soybean meal).

  • Cost Change: A relative cost reduction of 20 CNY/t (based on soybean meal priced at 3150 CNY/t).

2 Application Effects

• Maintain a stable laying rate and feed intake.

  • Control group: A relative decrease of 0.7 percentage points (1% before application vs. 1.7% after application)

  • Bioactive Peptide Group: A relative decrease of 0.6 percentage points (1.6% before application vs. 2.2% after application; baseline performance was poorer initially)

2.2 Improve eggshell density by 20 percentage points, increase eggshell strength by 6%, and raise the Haugh unit by 4 points.

(1) Improve eggshell density by 20 percentage points.

• A relative increase of 20 percentage points (13 percentage point increase in Control Group vs. 33 percentage point increase in Small Peptide Group)

(2) Maintain eggshell thickness and increase eggshell strength by 6%.

• Relative increase in eggshell strength by 5.5% (the control group decreased by 4%, and the peptide group increased by 1.5%)

(3) Increase Haugh units by 4 points.

• The absolute value of the Haugh unit of eggs stored for 5 days increased by 4 points.

3 Conclusion

After the application of the cost-reducing nutritional solution of SP900-B, the results indicate that:

• Feed Cost Savings: Directly save CNY 20 in cost per ton of feed.

• Maintain stable egg-laying performance: the decline speed of egg-laying rate remains flat, and feed intake remains stable.

• Improve egg quality: enhance eggshell density by 20 percentage points, increase eggshell strength by 5%, and raise the Haugh unit by 4 points.