Dietary betaine reduces plasma homocysteine concentrations and improves bone strength in laying hens

Figures & data

Table 1. The principal ingredients and nutrients of the basal laying hen diet fed at different stages. Betaine was added at two levels (0 or 1000 mg/kg) and phytase was added at two levels (300 or 1000 FTU/kg) according to the dietary groups

Ingredient (%)	Grower	Pre-lay	Peak-lay
Corn	65	62	50
Soybean meal	6	6	6
Rapeseed meal	15	15	15
Cottonseed meal	10	10	15
Soya oil	0.52	1.16	3.89
Limestone	1.25	3.89	8.36
Monocalcium Phosphate	0.68	0.69	0.66
DL-Methionine	0.05	0.03	0.09
Calculated nutrients
ME (kcal/kg)	2800	2750	2700
Crude protein %	17.69	17.28	18.5
Calcium %	0.84	1.84	3.54
Phosphorus %	0.64	0.64	0.64

Table 2. The effect of dietary betaine and phytase on plasma Hcy, cull body mass and bone quality traits measured at 45 and 70 weeks of age

Trait	Cull body mass (g)	Plasma Hcy (µM/l)	Tibia breaking strength (N)	Tibia density (mm Al)	Humerus breaking strength (N)	Humerus density (mm Al)	Keel density (mm Al)
Diets
Betaine (0 mg/kg)	1478	20.3	276.9	2.010	151.7	1.046	0.628
Betaine (1000 mg/kg)	1475	19.9	284.5	2.034	153.5	1.047	0.630
Phytase (300 FTU/kg)	1481	19.9	279.6	2.024	151.7	1.046	0.632
Phytase (1000 FTU/kg)	1471	20.3	282.0	2.019	153.6	1.047	0.626
SEM	3.9	0.21	1.41	0.0042	0.84	0.0045	0.0018
Age
45	1406	14.0	283.9	2.023	161.3	1.054	0.593
70	1538	25.6	277.9	2.020	144.4	1.038	0.662
SEM	5.3	0.29	1.92	0.0060	1.18	0.0065	0.0026
Probabilities
Betaine	0.763	0.049	0.021	0.045	0.311	0.752	0.740
Phytase	0.390	0.379	0.573	0.707	0.441	0.900	0.150
Betaine x Phytase	0.849	0.040	0.404	0.586	0.725	0.513	0.951
Age	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.057	0.834	< 0.001	0.027	< 0.001
Betaine x Age	0.145	0.080	0.835	0.155	0.074	0.031	0.687
Phytase x Age	0.547	0.512	0.801	0.842	0.501	0.952	0.548
Age x Betaine x Phytase	0.840	0.412	0.415	0.048	0.695	0.944	0.313

SEM = standard error of the mean

Table 3. The effect of dietary betaine and phytase on performance and egg quality traits

Traits	Egg production per hen per day (egg)	Feed intake per hen per day (g)	Egg mass (g)	Feed intake/Egg mass (g)	Shell density (g/cm^3)	Shell strength (N)	Shell mass (g)	Shell thickness (mm)	Shell percentage (%)	Haugh Unit (HU)
Diets
Betaine (0 mg/kg)	0.871	97.3	57.33	1.99	1.07	26.78	5.66	0.38	9.64	73.5
Betaine(1000 mg/kg	0.867	97.2	57.32	1.99	1.07	26.56	5.68	0.38	9.67	73.4
Phytase (300 FTU/kg)	0.873	97.0	57.25	2.00	1.07	26.38	5.64	0.38	9.64	73.7
Phytase (1000 FTU/kg)	0.866	97.5	57.40	2.01	1.07	26.96	5.69	0.39	9.66	73.2
SEM	0.0053	0.47	0.092	0.011	0.000	0.369	0.020	0.001	0.031	0.33
Probabilities
Betaine	0.421	0.786	0.953	0.650	0.511	0.793	0.588	0.963	0.601	0.902
Phytase	0.133	0.016	0.445	0.354	0.488	0.488	0.171	0.522	0.724	0.344
Betaine x Phytase	0.851	0.821	0.434	0.507	1.000	0.814	0.141	0.985	0.229	0.999

SEM = standard error of the mean