Comparing Bio-efficacy of Liquid DL-methionine Hydroxy Analogue Free Acid with DL-methionine in Broiler Chickens

The present experiment was conducted to assess the efficacy of methionine hydroxy analogue free fatty acid (MHAFA) in comparison to DL-methionine (DL-Met) utilizing day-old commercial broiler chicks (n=300). The chicks were randomly distributed into 30 groups of 10 chicks each. Three dietary treatments, viz. D1-maize-soybean meal based basal diet (Control), D2control diet supplemented with DLmethionine to meet its requirements and D3-control supplemented with MHA-FA @ 1.54 times of DL-methionine used in D2, were formulated. Each dietary treatment was offered to 10 replicated groups of chicks following completely random design (CRD). The chicks fed on supplemental DL-Met had significantly higher (p<0.01) gain in body weight, followed by MHA-FA group and control during 0-3 weeks of age. During overall growth period (0-6 weeks), chicks in DL-Met and MHA-FA groups grew better (p<0.01) than those in control. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved (p<0.01) on supplementation of either DLMet or MHA-FA in the basal (Control) diet during 0-3 weeks of age. The FCR for overall period, however, did not differ statistically (p>0.05) amongst the treatments. The eviscerated yields emanated from diets with DL-Met or MHA-FA were higher (p<0.01) than that in Control. Abdominal fat pad was also more (p<0.01) in broilers fed control diet than in DL-Met or MHA-FA supplemented group. Breast yield was higher (p<0.05) in MHA-FA fed broilers than those fed DL-methionine supplemented or un-supplemented diets. The efficacy of MHA-FA in comparison to DL-Met for growth was 62.11, 64.82 and 63.88% and for feed efficiency was 62.98, 67.73 and 64.01% at 0-3, 3-6 and 0-6 weeks of age, respectively, while it was 65.85, 71.40 and 67.49% for eviscerated yield, abdominal fat pad reduction and breast yield at 6 weeks of age, respectively. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2004. Vol 17, No. 1 : 102-108)