Omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in various aspects of human health, but many people do not consume them in sufficient quantities, resulting in deficiencies in some populations. The enrichment of commonly consumed foods with omega-3 fatty acids has been proposed to address this deficit. Feeding omega-3–rich ingredients to animals can enrich their products, increasing the consumption by the population without requiring any major dietary changes. Eggs can be enriched to a high degree, and currently, omega-3–enriched eggs are widely available. Oftentimes, a missed opportunity for the poultry industry is in valorizing the spent hen. In this short-term study, a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)–rich protist was fed to layer hens at three different inclusion levels to determine the degree of enrichment observed in the eggs and concomitantly in the breast, thigh, liver, and kidney. The addition of the protist ingredient had no negative impact on the bird health or performance. Significant increases in egg DHA concentration were observed, with 60, 164, 259, and 410 mg DHA/100g of egg collected from birds supplemented with the DHA-rich protist at a rate of 0, 0.5, 1, and 2.5% of the diet, respectively. This enrichment could increase the value of spent hen meat when used in the production of human and companion animal food as DHA-enriched products can be sold for a premium. Moreover, this enriched spent hen meat could potentially be used as a partial substitute for less-sustainable sources of dietary omega-3 including fish meal and fish oil.

Omega-3脂肪酸在人类健康的各个方面都发挥着重要作用，但是许多人没有充分摄入它们，导致某些人群缺乏营养。已经提出了用omega-3脂肪酸丰富常食用食品的方法来解决这一不足。向动物饲喂富含omega-3的成分可以丰富其产品，从而无需进一步改变饮食就能增加人群的消费量。鸡蛋可以高度浓缩，目前，富含omega-3的鸡蛋已广泛使用。通常，家禽业错过的机会是使废母鸡增值。在这项短期研究中，二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）–丰富的原生动物以三种不同的内含物水平饲喂蛋鸡，以确定在卵中以及在乳房，大腿，肝脏和肾脏中观察到的富集程度。原生质成分的添加对鸟类的健康或性能没有负面影响。观察到鸡蛋DHA浓度显着增加，从添加了DHA丰富的原生动物的家禽中分别收集了60、164、259和410 mg DHA / 100g鸡蛋，其添加量为日粮的0、0.5、1和2.5％ ， 分别。当用于人类和伴侣动物食品的生产时，这种浓缩可以增加鸡粪的价值，因为富含DHA的产品可以高价出售。此外，这种丰富的废母鸡肉有可能被部分替代不可持续的膳食omega-3来源，包括鱼粉和鱼油。