Abstract

BAIAO, N.C.; FERREIRA, M.O.O.; BORGES, F.M.O.  and  MONTI, A.E.M.. Effect of methionine levels on performance of laying hens. Arq. Bras. Med. Vet. Zootec. [online]. 1999, vol.51, n.3, pp. 271-274. ISSN 0102-0935.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-09351999000300013.

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of addition of increasing levels of DL-methionine in diet on the performance of laying hens. Nine hundred and sisty Lohmann laying hens, randomly distributed into four treatments with four replicates were used. The control treatment (A) was not supplemented with DL-methionine and contained 0.29% of total methionine. The treatments B, C and D were supplemented with 0.03, 0.05 and 0.07% of methionine respectively, with total methionine being 0.32, 0.34 and 0.36%. The following characteristics were evaluated: egg production (%), feed intake (g), feed conversion (kg/dz), egg weight (g), egg mass (g/day) and eggshell thickness (mm). There were no differences (P>0.05) in terms of feed conversion and eggshell thickness among treatments. The treatments B, C and D produced better egg production, feed intake, egg mass and egg weight as compared to treatment A.

Keywords : Laying hen; methionine; sulfur amino acid.