Methionine supplementation options in poultry

Abstract

Methionine is essential or limiting amino acid for poultry.An experiment was conducted to determine the comparative efficacy of DL-methionine and herbal methionine supplement on growth and performance of broiler chickens.Three hundred commercial broiler (VenCobb) chicks were procured and randomly divided into three groups (n=100), one control (To) and two treatments (T1 and T2).All the groups were offered standard maize-soyabean meal based ration.T1 was offered herbal sources of methionine (Methiorep®, supplied by Ayurvet Ltd., India) @1kg/tonne of feed and T2 was administered DL-methionine@1 kg/tonne of feed from 0-42 days.A significant improvement in overall growth and performance was observed in birds supplemented with methionine.This study demonstrates that herbal methionine can replace DL-methionine very efficiently when used at the rate 1 g/kg diet of commercial broiler chicken. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2009.