Possible Effects of Delivering Methionine to Broilers in Drinking Water at Constant Low and High Environmental Temperatures

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of water-soluble DL-methionine supplied through water and feed on the performance and carcass yield of broilers housed at two constant temperatures from 21 to 42 days of age. Birds were housed in two rooms (240 birds per room) with temperatures set at 21±2 and 30±2°C, respectively. Birds were divided into five groups of equal number within each room and fed five different diets (G1-G5). A low-methionine basal diet without supplemental methionine was fed to group 1 (G1). The basal diet was fortified with 0.025% or 0.050% methionine, either in feed (G2 and G3, respectively), or in a water solution (G4 and G5, respectively). Mortality was not significantly altered by any dietary treatment. Neither feed nor water intake was affected adversely by DL-methionine inclusion in drinking water. Housing at high temperature showed deleterious effect on birds’ weight gain. Additional methionine intake both in feed and water was associated with significantly heavier body weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio, than the basal diet at low and high environmental temperature. Carcass yields, as a percentage of live body weight, were not affected by dietary treatment. The results indicate that, under the experimental conditions, DL-methionine provided in drinking water can be effectively assimilated by broilers, at least from 21 to 42 days of age.

Key Words:

• Broiler performance
• Feed intake
• Water intake
• Methionine
• Temperature

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the University of Harran for financial support and facilities, and also thank Katalin Vajda for her general comments and advice during the project.