LAFAYETTE, Ind. – USDA is investing in research to find out if certain antioxidants contained in feed will help laying hens overcome the effects of heat stroke.

NutraMaize, based in Lafayette, received a three-year grant for just over $460,000 and will team up with researchers at Purdue University and Egg Innovations, a leading producer of humanely raised eggs in Warsaw.

According to researchers, heat stroke reduces productivity in laying hens enough to cost egg producers millions of dollars in lost revenue annually and is becoming more of an issue because of climate change.

“Heat stress is becoming an increasingly serious problem for producers like us, so there is an urgent need to identify practical and effective solutions to help mitigate its negative effects on both animal welfare and producer profitability,” said Egg Innovations CEO John Brunnquell.

NutraMaize is the maker of Orange Corn, a nutritionally enhanced brand with significantly higher levels of xanthophyll carotenoids than yellow corn, said Evan Rocheford, founder and CEO of the company whose corn is used for animal feed and products for human consumption.

The grant – from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture – is aimed at finding out if that class of antioxidants given to egg-laying hens at higher levels in the corn they consume might help the birds overcome heat stress, improve their health and performance.

The research will build upon previous studies that demonstrated the ability of NutraMaize Orange Corn to reduce the incidence and severity of foot pad dermatitis in broiler chickens and significantly enhance yolk pigmentation in laying hens.

Rocheford said heat stress due to climate change is becoming increasingly frequent and severe, leading to physiological changes in laying hens that cause reduced egg production.

He said one of the consequences of extreme heat is oxidative stress, which is caused by the production of excess free radicals or unstable atoms that damage cells.

“Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and prevent damage. Therefore, increasing the antioxidant intake of birds has been proposed as a mitigation strategy for heat stress,” Rocheford said.

Several other antioxidant compounds have already demonstrated some benefits in response to heat stress, but no studies have been conducted on the effect of xanthophyll carotenoids in laying hens, according to researchers.

Rocheford described xanthophyll carotenoids as potent antioxidants that help with inflammation and lead to high physiological activity that could reduce the impact heat stress has on reduced production in laying hens.

“Xanthophylls are involved in yolk pigmentation and they bioaccumulate through laying hens’ bodies. They provide the color of the birds’ distinctive yellow fat, shanks and feet,” he said.

Rocheford predicted the project will make a meaningful contribution to poultry science and the laying hen industry because most heat stress research has been on the effects on broiler chickens.

He said the research will also try to determine if there are any long terms effects of heat stress on laying hens over their lifetime.

One portion of the study in a controlled environment will take nearly two years to complete.

Other research lasting nearly as long will be done at three barns each housing 20,000 laying hens across the Midwest.

Rocheford also said the carotenoids in orange corn appear to be more bioavailable than commercial supplements of the antioxidants, making it a potentially more attractive alternative for delivering higher levels of carotenoids into the diets of laying hens.

“If successful, this project would offer the laying hen industry a practical nutritional approach for addressing heat stress that also enhances yolk pigmentation and the nutritional quality of the table egg, one of America’s most important sources of protein,” he said.

According to the National Institutes of Health, laying hens subjected to heat stress on average produce about one-third fewer eggs. The same eggs also average a weight loss of 3.4 percent and slight reduction in eggshell thickness.