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An Evaluation of the Protein and Lysine Requirement for Broiler Breeder Hens

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Poultry Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0930; Phone: (904) 392-1931; FAX: (904) 392-3047

F. J. Ivey

Novus International, Inc., 700 Chesterfield Village Parkway, St. Louis, MO 63198

Correspondence: R. H. Harms

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the protein and lysine (Lys) requirement of broiler breeder hens. Supplemental Lys was evaluated in deficient diets to determine its effect on performance. Seven experimental diets were used. Corn and soybean meal levels were varied to obtain daily Lys intakes of 938, 848, 804, 760, 715, 674, and 626 mg/hen/day with protein intakes of 20, 44, 19.16, 18.56, 17.95, 17.32, 16.72 and 16.09 g/day, respectively. Eight replicate pens of hens were fed a diet providing 626 mg of Lys/hen/day (control) and 12 replicate pens of hens were fed each of the other six diets. DL methionine was added to the diet to keep the daily intakes of methionine equal. Supplemental Lys was added to all diets at the beginning of week 9 to achieve a daily intake of approximately 848 mg/hen/day through week 13.

The Lys requirement for egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), and egg mass (EM) were achieved with daily Lys intakes of 824, 806, and 819 mg/hen/day, respectively, when the daily protein intake was greater than 18.55 g. Body weight (BW) increased as the daily intake of protein and Lys increased. Maximum BW was accomplished with the highest daily intake of protein and Lys.

EP returned to normal (i. e., equal to that of the controls) with all diets when supplemental Lys was added, except for EP of hens fed the diet containing the lowest level of protein. EW and EM returned to normal when Lys was added to the diets with the four highest levels of protein. Hens had satisfactory performance with daily intakes of 170, 921, 605, 778, and 625 mg/hen/day of Trp, Arg, Thr, Val, and Ile, respectively, with a daily protein intake of 16.72 g. However, EM, EW, and BW were equal to control with daily intakes of 192, 1,025, 655, 837, and 685 mg/hen/day of Trp, Arg, Thr, Val, and Ile, respectively, with a daily intake of 17.51 g of protein.

Key Words: Broiler breeder hen • amino acids • egg mass • egg production • lysine