effect of dietary crude protein and methionine on egg production and egg quality of laying hens during phase ii

an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary crude protein and methionine levels on quality and quantity of egg production. fifteen diets formulated with 3 levels of protein (13, 14 and 15%) and 5 levels of methionine (0.25, 0.28, 0.31, 0.34 and 0.37%) and fed to 420 birds in a 3×5 factorial arrangement. each diet was randomly fed to 4 replicates of 7 birds each and fed for 3 periods of 4 weeks (50-62wks of age) each. egg number and mortality was recorded daily, whereas feed consumption determined at the end of each period. the increased in dietary protein significantly increased egg production from 54 to 59.4 %. egg weight, egg mass and feed intake increased by 1.7 g, 3.4 g, and 2.8 g, respectively during the whole experimental period. as the dietary protein increased, feed conversion, egg component (as a percent of whale egg) and egg albumin percent were improved. however, the egg breaking, specific gravity and eggshell were significantly decreased with increased dietary protein. the egg yolk percent was not influenced by dietary protein levels. the increased in dietary methionine from 0.25% to 0.37% caused the overall egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake and egg component to improve by about 8.2%, 4g, 6.6g, 8.7g, and 6.0g, respectively. feed conversion, specific gravity, egg breakage, egg shell, and egg yolk and albumin percent were not influenced by dietary methionine levels.