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Amino acid recommendations for laying hens.

  • November 2009
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Andreas Lemme at Evonik Industries
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Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 21
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Andreas Lemme
Evonik - Deguss GmbH, Germany
Introduction
During recent decades productivity of laying hens increased substantially (Elliot, 2008). Not only egg
number, egg mass, and feed conversion has increased but also persistency of lay has improved. As
such, this must have implications on the optimal amino acid nutrition of current laying hen strains.
Simply stated, increasing egg mass output per hen means an increased amino acid output which has
to be provided by the feed. Moreover, while performance criteria of laying hens have improved, body
weight has decreased (Elliot, 2008). Consequently, the amino acid requirement for maintenance
purposes is influenced. In addition to the quantitative demands for amino acids by the modern laying
hen changing, there also is the potential that the qualitative demands for dietary protein might have
changed as optimum amino acid composition for egg production differs from that for maintenance.
Therefore, the current amino acid recommendations for layers provided by Evonik Degussa Feed
Additives have been revised. Since methionine is considered the first limiting amino acid in most
common diet compositions, literature was screened for methionine response studies in order to derive
a value for optimum dietary methionine level. Subsequently, the optimum amino acid profile was
defined by means of recent ideal protein research which ultimately allowed for calculating optimal
dietary amino acid levels for modern laying hen strains.
Several methionine dose response studies with laying hens are available
International literature was searched for methionine dose-response studies with laying hens in order
to perform a meta-analysis. Thirteen papers were published since 1990 reporting 19 experiments
which were suitable for this survey (Table 1). Age of laying hens ranged between 18 and 64 weeks but
on average trials were performed from 24 to 39 weeks of age. Moreover, various genetics were used
in these trials including Hy-Line W-36, Lohmann LSL, Lohmann brown, Single Comb White Leghorn,
Hisex brown, Dekalb delta, and ISA Babcock hens. However, because of the limited number of trials,
it was not possible to derive specific amino acid recommendations for individual strains.
There were considerable differences in diet compositions between these trials as the ingredients
used, protein and amino acid levels, and metabolisable energy contents varied. At least it can be
stated that all basal diets were deficient in methionine (Met) and methionine+cysteine (Met+Cys),
otherwise the hens would not have responded to increasing levels of supplemental DL-Met. In order
to avoid or at least to reduce interactions between performance data and digestibility of the dietary
Met, all performance data were regressed against digestible Met or Met+Cys. However, some publi-
cations only reported total amino acid contents of the diets, and in those cases, the digestible amino
acid levels of the diets were recalculated using AminoDat 3.0
®
software (Degussa 2006). Digestibility
figures origin from broiler research as digestibility research on laying hens is scarce.
The basic idea of meta-analyses is to put data of many experiments together in order to analyse them
in one process. In this context the challenge of the present survey was dealing with high variation of
response data within a trial but particularly between trials. In order to reduce this variability, egg mass
per hen per day was considered as key performance parameter. However, when egg mass/hen/day
was plotted against dietary digestible Met content, data were still relatively variable and regression
analysis revealed a relative poor fit (r
2
= 0.24, Figure 1). One goal of the nutritionist is to ensure a
least intake of nutrients which is the result of dietary concentration and feed intake. As feed intake is
influenced by a number of factors such as body weight (an effect of strain) nutrient intake is consid-
ered to be a better basis for standardisation. Therefore, the data were standardised to digestible
methionine intake.
Physiological feed back mechanisms allow laying hens to eat according to the first limiting nutritional
factor, which is usually dietary energy. So, differences in dietary energy levels must have implications
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 22
on feed intake and consequently on Met intake. Regressing daily egg mass data against daily digestible
Met intake per MJ ME improved the fit of the regression curve to a reasonable r-square of 0.78
(Figure 2).
Finally, data were analysed by exponential regression as suggested by Morris (2004), who demonstrated
that performance response curves to amino acid levels of a population of animals are of non-linear
nature. The 19 experiments delivered 97 data points, and the resulting regression equation suggested
that 35.15 mg Met intake/MJ ME/hen/d is optimal (95 % of asymptotic response). This number cor-
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Authors Year
Expe-
riment
strain period CP ME
dig.
Met*
tot
Met
dig
M+C
tot
M+C
dig.
Lys
tot.
Lys
Bateman et
al, 2005
2001
Hy-Line W-
36
24 35 15.0 12.00 0.25 0.27 0.45 0.51 0.65 0.75
Bertram et
al., 1995a
1995
high
energy
Lohmann
LSL
24 36 14.8 11.72 0.22 0.25 0.42 0.51 0.71 0.79
Bertram et
al., 1995a
1995
low
energy
Lohmann
LSL
24 36 15.1 10.88 0.22 0.25 0.42 0.50 0.71 0.79
Bertram et
al., 1995b
1995
Lohmann
Brown
23 35 15.6 11.70 0.19 0.23 0.39 0.50 0.68 0.77
Calderon and
Jensen, 1990
1990 Expt. 1
Comb White
Leghorn
32 36 13.0 12.18 0.20 0.24 0.40 0.45 0.61 0.68
Calderon and
Jensen, 1990
1990 Expt. 2
Comb White
Leghorn
59 64 13.0 12.18 0.20 0.24 0.40 0.45 0.61 0.68
Dänner and
Bessei, 2002
2002
Lohmann
LSL
22 45 15.1 11.39 0.19 0.22 0.43 0.49 0.75 0.84
Filho et al.,
2006
2006 Hisex brown 20 44 17.2 11.72 0.29 0.31 0.54 0.61 0.84 0.97
Fuente
Martinez
et al., 2005
2005
ISA Babcock
B-300
24 34 15.2 12.13 0.21 0.24 0.41 0.49 0.69 0.79
Lemme et
al., 2004
2003
Hy-Line
W-36
24 40 14.5 11.84 0.21 0.23 0.40 0.48 0.72 0.80
Lemme et al.,
2004
2003
Lohmann
Brown
22 46 15.4 11.80 0.20 0.23 0.42 0.50 0.80 0.88
Mack et al.,
1999
1999
Dekalb
delta
Dekalb delta 18 30 14.6 11.92 0.21 0.22 0.43 0.46 0.65 0.73
Mack et al.,
1999
1999
Hy-Line
W-36
Hy-Line
W-36
18 30 14.6 11.92 0.21 0.22 0.43 0.46 0.65 0.73
Mack et al.,
1999
1999
Lohmann
LSL
Lohmann
LSL
18 30 14.6 11.92 0.21 0.22 0.43 0.46 0.65 0.73
Narváez,
1996
1996
brown
layers
not
mentioned
22 38 14.4 11.51 0.21 0.23 0.44 0.48 0.62 0.71
Narváez et
al., 2005
1996
white
layers
Lohmann
LSL
22 38 14.4 11.51 0.21 0.23 0.44 0.48 0.62 0.71
Novak et al.,
2004
2004 high Lys Dekalb delta 20 43 17.7 12.09 0.31 0.36 0.55 0.66 0.90 0.98
Novak et al..,
2004
2004 low Lys Dekalb delta 20 43 17.7 12.09 0.32 0.36 0.56 0.65 0.81 0.87
Schutte et al.,
1994
1994 Expt. 1
Lohmann
LSL
25 37 14.5 12.13 0.20 0.23 0.41 0.48 0.68 0.77
Table 1: Methionine and Methionine+Cysteine dose response studies which were considered
in the meta-analysis
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 23
responds to a daily intake of 415 mg of Met using a dietary energy level of 11.82 MJ ME, which was
the average across all considered studies. This number of 415 mg dig. Met/hen/d is about 6 % higher
than our current recommendation (390 mg/hen/d) but in line with that suggested by Joly (2007), who
estimated 420 mg dig. Met/hen/d.
The procedure applied for digestible methionine was also applied for digestible methionine + cysteine
levels (Figure 3). Accordingly, the resulting optimum is 65.76 mg digestible Met+Cys intake/MJ
ME/hen/d corresponding to 777 mg dig. Met+Cys/hen/d. This value is about
13 % higher than the current Evonik recommendation of 690 mg/hen/d.
While the determined optimum supply of 415 mg dig. Met/hen/d and 777 mg dig. Met+Cys/hen/d may
initially seem high, these levels suggest an optimum dig. Met to dig. Met+Cys ratio of 54 %. This ratio
is similar to that suggested by Bregendahl et al. (2008), who determined an optimum dig. Met to
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
15
25
35
45
55
65
024681012
dig. Met g/kg feed
egg mass, g/d
Y = 36.93 + 16.18 * (1 – e
(-1.35 * (X – 1.9))
)
r
2
= 0.244; n = 97
15
25
35
45
55
65
024681012
dig. Met g/kg feed
egg mass, g/d
Y = 36.93 + 16.18 * (1 – e
(-1.35 * (X – 1.9))
)
r
2
= 0.244; n = 97
15
25
35
45
55
65
5 10152025303540455055
dig. Met intake, mg/MJ ME/d
egg mass, g/d
Y = 23.90 + 32.17 * (1 – e
(-0.125 * (X – 11.11))
)
r
2
= 0.775; n = 97
95% asympt. Response: 35.15 mg dig. Met/MJ ME/d
15
25
35
45
55
65
5 10152025303540455055
dig. Met intake, mg/MJ ME/d
egg mass, g/d
Y = 23.90 + 32.17 * (1 – e
(-0.125 * (X – 11.11))
)
r
2
= 0.775; n = 97
95% asympt. Response: 35.15 mg dig. Met/MJ ME/d
Figure 1: Daily egg mass data out of 19 experiments plotted against the digestible methionine
content of the diet
Figure 2: Daily egg mass data out of 19 experiments plotted against the daily digestible
methionine intake which was standardised to the dietary energy content
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 24
Met+Cys ratio of 52 and 55 % based on daily egg mass and feed conversion ratio data out of two
consecutive experiments, respectively. It also agrees with Rostagno (2005), who recommended a
dig. Met to Met+Cys ratio of 55 %. However, this estimate is lower than Joly (2007), who suggested
650 mg dig. Met+Cys/hen/d to be optimal which would corresponds to a dig. Met to Met+Cys ratio of
65 %. The ratio of Joly (2007) suggests a considerably lower Cys requirement of the birds as the dig.
Met level by Joly (2007) is quite in line with our findings. Finally, suggestions by Leeson and Summers
(2005) and Coon and Zhang (1999) were 58 % and 60 %, which are slightly higher than our findings,
but lower than those of Joly (2007).
Ideal Protein Profiles
Although Met and Met+Cys, respectively, play a key role in laying hen nutrition because they are first
limiting in most common commercial diets, lysine is typically used as the reference amino acid in the
Ideal Protein concept. The advantage of this concept is that all essential amino acids are considered
because optimising performance requires that the whole range of essential amino acids are provided
to the animal in adequate amounts. Recently, Bregendahl
et al
. (2008) published an extended study
on the Ideal Protein profile of modern laying hens, but there are several other references for this topic
including Jais
et al
.(1995), Coon and Zhang (1999), Rostagno (2005) and Leeson and Summers
(2005). Respective ideal protein profiles are listed in Table 2.
There is a good consistency between the suggested profiles although methodologies applied to derive
the values differed with a couple of exceptions. For example, compared with all other studies indi-
cating an average value of 50 % for the dig. Met to Lys ratio, Jais et al. (1995) reported 44 %, which
seemed to be too low. Suggested Met+Cys to Lys ratios ranged from 81 % (Coon and Zhang, 1999)
to 96 % (Bregendahl
et al
., 2008) and showed thus higher variability. With respect to Thr, Leeson and
Summers (2005) suggested a relatively high ratio to Lys (80 %) whereas Rostagno (2005) recom-
mends a rather low figure (66 %). Regarding Trp:Lys the ratio provided by Jais
et al
.(1995) was
substantially lower compared to the other references. Likewise, the suggested Arg to Lys ratio of
130 % by Coon and Zhang (1999) is considerably higher than those by Rostagno (2005) and Leeson
and Summers (2005) and especially by Jais
et al.
(1995). Similar findings apply for Val to Lys ratios.
Ile to Lys ratios varied between 76 % and 86 %.
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Figure 3: Daily egg mass data out of 19 experiments plotted against the daily digestible
methionine+cysteine intake which was standardised to the dietary energy content
15
25
35
45
55
65
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
egg mass, g/d
Y = 24.0 + 34.04 * (1 – e
(-0.068 * (X – 21.94))
)
r
2
= 0.791; n = 97
95% asympt. Response: 65.75 mg dig. Met+Cys/MJ ME/d
15
25
35
45
55
65
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
egg mass, g/d
Y = 24.0 + 34.04 * (1 – e
(-0.068 * (X – 21.94))
)
r
2
= 0.791; n = 97
95% asympt. Response: 65.75 mg dig. Met+Cys/MJ ME/d
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 25
Table 2: Ideal amino acid profiles proposed by different authors
Recommended amino acid levels for layers have been increased
Based on our meta-analysis and the above mentioned ideal protein sources we revised our current
amino acid recommendations for laying hens, which are reported in Table 3. The basis of our revised
recommendations is the optimum daily intake of 415 mg dig. Met/hen which was the outcome of our
meta-analysis. In a second step, optimal intake of the other amino acids was calculated by using the
ideal ratios which are presented in Table 3. Those ratios were more or less the average of the numbers
given in Table 2. The Met to Lys as well as the Trp to Lys ratio reported by Jais
et al.
(1995) were
excluded. For the optimal Met+Cys to Lys ratio also the Met to Met+Cys ratio derived from our meta
analysis was considered. Although numbers in Table 2 suggest a Thr to Lys ratio of 74 % we rather
suggest to use a ratio of 70 %. Variation of literature data is large. Ratios referring to Bregendahl
et
al
. (2008) refer to daily egg mass data. However, feed conversion responses suggested a ratio of
67 %. In addition, information from layer feed producers also suggests that optimal ratio might be
lower than 74 %.
An intake of 415 mg dig. Met/hen/d and an optimum dig. Met to Lys ratio of 50 % revealed a daily
dig. Lys intake of 830 mg/hen/d (Table 3). Then, dietary levels were calculated using optimum daily
intakes and assuming varying daily feed intakes from 80 to 120 g (Table 3). Accordingly, the concen-
tration of amino acids (and ideally other nutrients and energy) increases with decreasing feed intake.
A recommended daily intake of 830 mg dig. Lys/hen might appear high, especially when compared with
our previous recommendation of 770 mg/hen/d. However, in an experiment by Bonekamp
et al
. (2007),
dig. Lys intake was increased from 550 to 800 mg/hen/d in two layer strains (Lohmann brown classic,
Lohmann LSL classic). Note that in this trial, the whole amino acid profile was increased in conjunc-
tion with Lys, whereas energy and minerals were maintained. Responses on daily egg mass and feed
conversion ratio were of non-linear nature (Figure 4). Exponential regression analysis indicated that
the maximum daily egg mass and minimum feed conversion ratio were not achieved. Respective
regression equations suggested that the optimal dig. Lys intakes were higher than the highest tested
level but also clearly higher than 830 mg/hen/d, which imply that modern layers require high levels
of dietary amino acids to realize their full genetic performance potential. Moreover, optimum amino
acid levels for maximising performance seemed to be similar between strains.
Most of the studies used for the meta-analysis on sulphur amino acids and ideal protein were done with
laying hens from start of lay to around peak production. Having typical egg production and egg weight
curves in mind, it appears logic that optimum amino acid levels differ with age. Our recommendations
as given in Table 3 are meant for layers up to peak production. In later phases when performance
decreases, their amino acid requirements will also decrease, thus the dietary amino acid levels might
be reduced.
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Source
Jais
et al.
,
1995
Leeson and
Summers,
2005
Rostagno,
2005
Bregendahl
et al.
,
2008
Coon and
Zhang, 1999
digestible total digestible digestible digestible digestible
Lys 100 100 100 100 100 100
Met 44 51 50 47 52 49
Met+Cys -- 88 91 94 96 81
Thr 74 80 66 77 -- 73
Trp 16 21 23 22 -- 20
Arg 82 103 100 -- -- 130
Ile 76 79 83 79 -- 86
Val 64 89 90 93 -- 102
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 26Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
The potential for differences in the maintenance and production requirements and their subsequent
differences in their ideal amino acid profiles also should be considered. The ratios suggested by
Rostagno (2005) are applied for various body weights, weight gain, and daily egg mass of the hens
but there is no consideration given to differences in maintenance and production resulting in changes
of the ratios. However, the recommendations by GfE (1999) do consider those differences, but the
recommended amino acid profile changes only marginally. Therefore, our recommended amino acid
ratios (Lys=100) remain the same for all production phases for practical reasons.
Feed intake is influenced by dietary energy
Feed intake of laying hens is dependent on the dietary energy level. Morris (2004) referring to an
earlier work of his lab from 1968 showed that laying hens reduce their feed intake as soon as dietary
metabolisable energy (ME) content has been increased. However, Morris (2004) further reported that
if dietary ME is increased and also the limiting amino acids are increased proportionally, hens gained
fat. He concluded that a reduction in feed intake was not enough to maintain energy intake. As a
solution, Morris (2004) suggested to use the effective energy concept which is more similar to net
energy instead of metabolisable energy. The change in dietary metabolisable energy is often accom-
panied with a change in fibre and fat content, fractions which per definition have different energetic effec-
tiveness. However, the effective energy concept has not been established in poultry nutrition.
An experiment was conducted in which ISA brown layers were fed increasing levels of a well balanced
protein at two metabolisable energy intakes (Wijtten
et al
., 2006). Energy intake of 294 kcal ME/hen/d
and 314 kcal ME/hen/d were achieved by restricted feeding. Digestible Lys intake was increased from
about 600 to 750 mg/hen/d at both energy intakes. At the same time the whole amino acid profile
was raised maintaining ratios between the amino acids. Responses on daily egg mass are shown in
Figure 5. Performance increased in a linear fashion with increasing levels of balanced protein at both
energy intakes suggesting that higher levels would have been needed to achieve the asymptote. This
effect again suggests that the optimal dietary dig. Lys level (and those of all other essential amino
acids) is much higher than our former recommendation of 770 mg dig. Lys/hen/d.
Table 3: Recommendations for both digestible amino acid intake of laying hens and in %
of diet for laying hens with differing daily feed intake (Dietary energy: 11.82 MJ
ME/kg)
dig. Lys dig. Met
dig.
Met+Cys
dig. Thr dig. Trp dig. Arg dig. Ile dig. Val
optimal ratios
to Lys
100 50 91 70 21 104 80 88
intake, mg/d 831 415 756 582 174 864 665 731
Digestible Amino acids in g/kg diet
Feed intake, g/d
80 10.39 5.19 9.45 7.27 2.18 10.80 8.31 9.14
85 9.78 4.89 8.90 6.84 2.05 10.17 7.82 8.60
90 9.23 4.62 8.40 6.46 1.94 9.60 7.39 8.12
95 8.75 4.37 7.96 6.12 1.84 9.10 7.00 7.70
100 8.31 4.15 7.56 5.82 1.74 8.64 6.65 7.31
105 7.91 3.96 7.20 5.54 1.66 8.23 6.33 6.96
110 7.55 3.78 6.87 5.29 1.59 7.86 6.04 6.65
115 7.23 3.61 6.58 5.06 1.52 7.51 5.78 6.36
120 6.92 3.46 6.30 4.85 1.45 7.20 5.54 6.09
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 27
Figure 5: Daily egg mass of ISA brown layers with graded levels of balanced protein intake
(True fecal digestible Lys given as reference) at two energy intakes (Wijtten
et al.
,
2006)
There was no difference between the two energy treatments indicating that if energy intake is reduced,
amino acid intake should be maintained in order to keep performance at the same level (Figure 5).
Differences in energy intake were achieved by controlling feed intake. Consequently feed conversion
ratio was better at lower energy intake but the response to increasing dietary balanced protein (BP)
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
54.0
55.0
56.0
57.0
58.0
59.0
600 650 700 750 800
TFD Lys intake, mg/d
egg mass, g/d
aimed 285 kcal ME/d
aimed 305 kcal ME/d
Figure 4: Daily egg mass and feed conversion ratio of two layer strains fed graded levels of
balanced protein (Bonekamp
et al.
, 2007)
45.0
50.0
55.0
60.0
65.0
550 600 650 700 750 800 850
TFD Lys intake, mg/d
egg mass, g/d
Lohmann LSL
Lohmann Brown
1.70
1.80
1.90
2.00
2.10
2.20
2.30
550 650 750 850 950
TFD Lys intake, mg/d
feed per EM, kg/kg
Lohmann LSL
Lohmann Brown
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 28
was again very similar at both energy intakes. Interestingly, both increasing dietary BP and energy
intake levels affected body weight development of the hens over the 16-week experiment. Body weight
increased with increasing BP (Figure 6). It is assumed that effects on body weight are mainly due to
fat accretion, however, this has not been confirmed. Body weight gain was consistently higher at
higher energy intake. Therefore, it was concluded that the higher energy intake could not be utilised
for higher egg mass production, so the extra energy was stored as fat. These responses imply that an
energy intake of 314 kcal ME/hen/d can be reduced as energy is partly used for weight gain which
is not necessarily desired in layers.
Differences in energy intake can only be achieved by feed restriction. In case of changing ME levels
in the diet, hens would respond with changes in feed intake in order to maintain energy intake. However,
the current experiment suggests that controlling energy intake of hens might be a tool to control body
weight (fat) gain of layers.
Raw material prices and availability force nutritionists to find alternative sources and concepts partic-
ularly when it comes to energy. In this context, the question arises how to adjust dietary amino acids
if dietary energy is reduced. As mentioned above, Morris (2004) reported that proportional adjust-
ment of amino acids with changes in dietary metabolisable energy is not satisfying. A recent litera-
ture survey suggests that amino acids levels in broiler diets should not be adjusted proportionally to
changes in dietary energy in order to maintain performance and profitability (Lemme, 2007). Changes
in dietary composition (fat, fibre, carbohydrates, protein) and their respective net energy or effective
energy contents might partly explain this finding. This concept has been implemented in our QuickChick
software, which gives amino acid recommendations for broilers. It suggests that relative changes in
amino acid levels are only half of the dietary ME changes. When applying the same concept to layer
amino acid recommendation, levels would change as presented in Table 4 where ME was reduced by
5 % to 11.23 MJ ME/kg.
Optimal dietary amino acid levels are influenced by economic conditions
Dietary amino acid specifications should allow for high performance. However, maximum performance
does not necessarily mean maximum profitability. Therefore, nutrient specifications in general but
amino acid specification in particular should be adjusted to the economic conditions including feed
cost and egg price. In Figure 7, income over feed cost is used as a profitability indicator. The consid-
erations for this calculation were: a general diet price of 180 EURO; a price increase of 1 EURO per
100 mg increase of daily dig. Lys intake (at 100g daily feed intake this corresponds to an increase of
0.1 % dig. Lys of the balanced protein); and 15 EURO per kg egg mass. These considerations were
combined with predicted daily egg mass and feed conversion ratio using the respective exponential
regression equations. Although the curve of Lohmann LSL hens was flatter than that of Lohmann
brown hens, both curves did not achieve a maximum even at 830 mg dig. Lys intake/hen/d which
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Figure 6: Body weight gains of ISA brown layers with graded levels of balanced protein intake
(True fecal digestible Lys given as reference) at two energy intakes (Wijtten
et al
.,
2006)
-30.0
-10.0
10.0
30.0
50.0
70.0
90.0
110.0
600 650 700 750 800
TFD Lys intake, mg/d
body weight gain, g
aimed 294 kcal ME/d
aimed 314 kcal ME/d
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 29
was outside the tested range in the experiment. Interestingly, general diet price did not impact optimal
dietary amino acid levels. Stronger feed price changes per unit balanced dietary protein would reduce
the economically optimal amino acid intake. Also price per kg egg mass influences optimal specifi-
cations.
Our revised recommendation as given in Tables 3 and 4 will allow for maximum egg mass produc-
tion and minimum feed conversion ratio, but not necessarily optimise profitability. Therefore, nutri-
tionists need to fine tune specifications in relation to the economic conditions. However, while the
absolute level of amino acids may change with the economic situation, ideal ratios between the amino
acids remain the same.
Table 4: Recommendations for both digestible amino acid intake of laying hens and in %
of diet for laying hens with differing daily feed intake (Dietary energy reduced: From
11.82 to 11.23 MJ ME/kg)
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Figure 7: Income over feed cost calculations (IOFC) using experimental data (regression
equations) from Bonekamp
et al.
(2007) and assuming a basal feed price of 1.80
EURO/kg feed, 15.00 EURO/kg egg output, and a feed price increase of 1.00
EURO/100 mg higher dig. Lys (balanced protein) intake.
550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950
TFD Lys intake, mg/d
IOFC, rel. scale
Lohmann LSL
Lohmann brown
dig.
Lys
dig.
Met
dig.
Met+Cys
dig.
Thr
dig.
Trp
dig.
Arg
dig.
Ile
dig.
Val
optimal ratios to Lys 100 50 91 70 21 104 80 88
Digestible Amino acids in g/kg diet
Feed intake, g/d
Before energy
reduction
After
energy
reduction
80 84 10.13 5.06 9.22 7.09 2.13 10.53 8.10 8.91
85 89 9.53 4.77 8.67 6.67 2.00 9.91 7.63 8.39
90 95 9.00 4.50 8.19 6.30 1.89 9.36 7.20 7.92
95 100 8.53 4.26 7.76 5.97 1.79 8.87 6.82 7.51
100 105 8.10 4.05 7.37 5.67 1.70 8.43 6.48 7.13
105 110 7.72 3.86 7.02 5.40 1.62 8.02 6.17 6.79
110 116 7.37 3.68 6.70 5.16 1.55 7.66 5.89 6.48
115 121 7.05 3.52 6.41 4.93 1.48 7.33 5.64 6.20
120 126 6.75 3.38 6.14 4.73 1.42 7.02 5.40 5.94
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 30
Use of supplemental amino acids helps to balance dietary amino acid profile
The principle of least cost feed formulation is that a number of constraints need to be matched by a
suitable combination of ingredients allowing for the most economical solution. Amino acids are provided
either in form of proteins which are found in cereals, legumes, by-products from food oil production,
animal by products etc. or as free amino acids. Currently, DL-Met, L-Lys sources, L-Thr, and L-Trp
are commercially available as amino acids. However, based on the analysis of several hundred
samples of layer feed, often only DL-Met is used. However, the inclusion of the other amino acids
can help reduce dietary protein as well as feed costs.
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
INGREDIENTS Met Met, Lys Met, Lys, Thr Met, Lys, Thr, Trp
Corn 59.863 61.418 61.822 62.538
SBM (46 %) 26.410 25.076 24.727 24.104
Feather meal 2.000 2.000 2.000 2.000
Soy oil 1.297 1.018 0.945 0.813
L-Lys HCl - 0.039 0.049 0.067
DL-Met 0.230 0.240 0.243 0.247
L-Thr - - 0.004 0.012
L-Trp - - - 0.003
Limestone 8.352 8.355 8.356 8.358
Ca
2
P
1.247 1.254 1.255 1.258
Salt 0.400 0.400 0.400 0.400
Premix 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.200
TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Cost (RMB/kg) 2.7759 2.7305 2.7193 2.7102
NUTRIENTS AND ENERGY
Energy, kcal ME/kg 2,800 2,800 2,800 2,800
CP, % 18.99 18.55 18.44 18.24
Dig. Lys, % 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.83
RATIOS TO DIGESTIBLE LYSINE
Specification
Dig. Lys 100 100 100 100 100
Dig. Met 50 58 59 59 59
Dig. Met+Cys 91 91 91 91 91
Dig. Thr 70 72 70 70 70
Dig. Trp 21 22 21 21 21
Dig. Arg 104 135 130 129 127
Dig. Ile 80 84 82 81 80
Dig. Val 88 95 93 92 91
Table 5: Diet formulations for laying hens using revised amino acid specifications and using
DL-Met, DL-Met and L-Lys HCl, DL-Met and L-Lys HCl and L-Thr or DL-Met, L-Lys
HCl, L-Thr and L-Trp (Protein limiting amino acids are marked with grey cells)
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 31
In Table 5, corn-soybean meal diets with feather meal were formulated using the amino acid specifi-
cations obtained from Table 3 and Chinese raw material prices from December 2007. In diet 1 only DL-
Met was made available to least cost formulation, whereas in diet 2, DL-Met and L-Lys HCl were
made available. In diets 3 and 4, L-Thr and L-Trp also were offered.
In this exercise, the use of the other amino acids beyond DL-Met decreased the use of SBM and
increased the inclusion level of corn. As such, dietary protein level was decreased stepwise as these
other amino acids were made available. The use of these other amino acids allowed the diet to better
match the specified constraints. This is an important effect from an environmental standpoint, because
any reduction in dietary protein level reduces nitrogen excretion. Furthermore, these amino acids (L-
Lys, L-Thr or L-Trp) did not have to be forced into these diets, suggesting that they were needed to
minimise feed cost. Consequently, feed costs were gradually reduced from diet 1 to diet 4. These
examples clearly demonstrate that the use of supplemental amino acids allow for minimising feed
prices, and for better balancing the dietary amino acid profile.
Summary
• Latest scientific research was considered in revising amino acid recommendations for laying hens.
• Considering that methionine is the first limiting amino acid in laying hen diets, a meta-analysis
revealed an optimal digestible methionine intake of 415 mg/hen/d.
• Literature suggested optimal digestible methionine, methionine+cysteine, threonine, tryptophan,
arginine, isoleucine and valine to digestible lysine ratios of 50, 91, 70, 21, 104, 80 and 88 %,
respectively.
• If dietary metabolisable energy needs to be reduced, then essential amino acids also should be
reduced, but to a lesser extent.
• Optimising the dietary amino acid profile and feed cost reduction can only be achieved with the
complete set of commercially available amino acids.
Zusammenfassung
Aminosäurenempfehlungen für Legehennen
• Neueste wissenschaftliche Forschungen wurden bei der Revision der Aminosäurenempfehlungen
für Legehennen in Betracht gezogen. Berücksichtigt man, dass Methionin die erstlimitierende
Aminosäure bei Legehennen ist, so hat eine Meta-Analyse gezeigt, dass die optimale Aufnahme
an verdaulichem Methionin bei 415 mg pro Henne und Tag liegt.
• In der Literatur wurden optimale verdauliche Verhältnisse von Methionin, Methionin+Cystin, Threonin,
Tryptophan, Arginin, Isoleucin und Valin zu verdaulichem Lysin von 50, 91, 70, 21, 104, 80
beziehungsweise 88 % vorgeschlagen.
• Wenn die metabolisierbare Energie im Futter reduziert werden muss, dann sollten die essentiellen
Aminosäuren ebenfalls reduziert werden, wenn auch in einem geringeren Ausmaß.
• Eine Optimierung des Aminosäurenprofils der Diät und eine Reduzierung der Futtermittelkosten
kann nur über den kompletten Satz kommerziell verfügbarer Aminosäuren erreicht werden.
References
Bonekamp, R.P.R.T., A. Lemme, P.J.A. Wijtten, and J.K.W.M. Sparla (2007): Effects of amino acids on egg number and
egg mass of brown (heavy) and whithe (light) hens. 16
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European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, August 26-30,
Strasbourg, France: 113-116.
Bregendahl, K., S.A. Roberts, B. Kerr, and D. Hoehler (2008): Ideal ratios of isoleucine, methionine, methionine plus cysteine,
threonine, tryptophan and valine relative to lysine for white Leghorn-type laying hens of twenty-eight to thirty-four weeks
of age. Poultry Science 87: 744-758.
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
Vol. 44 (2), Oct. 2009, Page 32
Coon, C. and B. Zhang (1999): Ideal amino acid profile for layers examined. Feedstuffs 71 (14): 13-15+31.
Elliot, M.A. (2008): Amino acid nutrition of commercial pullets and layers, California Animal Nutrition Conference, May 21-
22, Fresno, California: 139-165.
GfE (Gesellschaft für Ernährungsphysiologie) (1999): Empfehlungen zur Energie- und Nährstoffversorgung der Legehennen
und Masthühner. DLG Verlag, Frankfurt a. Main, Germany: 185.
Jais, C., F.X. Roth, and M. Kirchgessner (1995): The determination of the optimum ratio between the essential amino acids
in laying hen diets. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 59: 292-302.
Joly, P. (2007): Re-evaluation of amino acids requirements for laying hens Part 1: Methionine and cystine requirements.
ISA Hendix Genetics: 13.
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Lemme, A. (2007): How to adjust dietary amino acids to energy in broiler diets? AminoNews™ 8 (2): 13-24.
Morris, T.R. (2004): Nutrition of chicks and layers, World’s Poultry Science Journal 60: 5-18.
Rostagno, H.S. (2005): Brazilian Tables for Poultry and Swine - 2
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META-ANALYSIS
Bateman, A., Z. Liu, and D.A. Roland Sr. (2005): Bioefficiency determination of methionine hydroxy analog-free acid relative
to DL-methionine in laying hen diets with limited methionine using different regression models. International Journal of Poultry
Science 4: 628-632.
Bertram, H.-L., J.B. Schutte, and J. de Jong (1995a): Influence of DL-methionine supplements on the performance of laying
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of brown laying hens. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 59: 103-107.
Calderon, W.M., and L.S. Jensen (1990): The requirement for sulphur amino acid by laying hens as influenced by the protein
concentration. Poultry Science 69: 934-944.
Dänner, E.E. and Bessei, W. (2002): Effectiveness of liquid DL-methionine hydroxyl analogue-free acid (DL-MHA-FA)
compared to DL-methionine on performance of laying hens. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 66: 97-101.
Filho, J.J., J.H. Vilar da Silva, E. Lindolfo da Silva, M.L. Gomes Ribeiro, T.D. Dantas Martins, and C. Boa-Viagem Rabello
(2006): Methionine+Cystine requirements of semi-heavy laying hens from the starter to peak of egg production. Rivista
Brasileira de Zootecnia 35: 1063-1069 (supl.).
Fuente Martinez, B., A. Diaz Cruz, J. Lecumberri Lopez, and E. Ávila González (2005): Digestible lysine and sulfur amino
acids requirements in white leghorn hens. Veterinaria México 36 (2): 135-145.
Lemme, A., H.S. Rostagno, A. Knox and A. Petri, (2004): Responses of laying hens to graded levels of dietary methionine.
22
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World’s Poultry Congress, June 8-13, Istanbul, Turkey: 4.
Mack, S., D. Hoehler and E. Esteve-Garcia (1999): Responses to methionine supplementation of different white egg-type
laying hen strains under heat stress. 12
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European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, August 15-19, Veldhoven, Netherlands.
Narváez-Solarte, W., H.S. Rostagno, P.R. Soares, M.A. Silva, and L.F. Uribe Velasquez, (2005): Nutritional requirements
in methionine+cystine for white-egg laying hens during the first cycle of production. International Journal of Poultry
Science 4: 965-968.
Narváez-Solarte, W. (1996) in: H.S.Rostagno, P. Barbarino Jr., and W.A. Barboza, Nutrient requirements of poultry
determined in Brazil, International Symposium on Nutritional Requirements of Poultry and Swine, September 24-26,
Vicosa, Brazil: 81-107.
Novak, C., H. Yakout and S. Scheideler (2004): The combined effects of dietary lysine and total sulphur amino acid level on
egg production parameters and egg components in Dekalb Delta laying hens. Poultry Science 83: 977-984.
Schutte, J.B., J. de Jong, , and H.L. Bertram (1994): Requirement of the laying hen for sulphur amino acids. Poultry Science
73: 274-280.
Author's Address:
Dr Andreas Lemme
Evonik Degussa GmbH Bldg 251/112
Rodenbacher Chaussee 4 63457 Hanau-Wolfgang, Germany
andreas.lemme@evonik.com
Amino Acid Recommendations for laying hens
... Consequently, accurate estimation of DLys requirements is essential to maximize egg production (Spangler et al., 2018;FEDNA, 2019), optimize egg cost (Novak et al., 2004) and reduce nitrogen excretion (Rocha et al., 2009;Kumar et al., 2018). The Lys requirements of laying hens for optimal egg production have been determined in numerous experiments, with high variability among estimates (Faria et al., 2003;Lemme, 2009;Kumar et al., 2018). In fact, under commercial practices, the recommendation for digestible Lys in mg/d for brown-egg laying hens consuming 110 g of feed/d in the peak phase is 858 for Isa Brown (2017) (Bray, 1969) and 710 (Nathanael and Sell, 1980). ...
... More recently, the digestible Lys requirements for white laying hens have been estimated within a range of 540 mg/d (Schutte and Smink, 1998;Bregendahl, 2008) to 856 mg/d (Pastore et al., 2018). In fact, Lemme (2009), Klein (2013), and Van Krimpen et al. (2015 recommend 830, 726, and 855 mg/d (equivalent to 0.75, 0.66, and 0.78% DLys) to maximize egg production in hens consuming 110 g of feed/d. The reasons for the discrepancies among authors are not well documented but include differences in ambient temperature, management practices, genetic background, stage of the egg production, diet composition, methodological criteria (i.e., broken line vs. quadratic polynomial regression), target variable evaluated (i.e., egg rate vs. egg mass vs. egg weight vs. feed efficiency), and unit of Lys (total vs. fecal vs. ileal) used to estimate the requirements. ...
... In the current research, EW (and egg mass production) increased linearly as the DLys content of the diet increased from 0.68 to 0.80% (744 to 883 mg DLys/d), in agreement with data of Novak et al. (2004) and Schmidt et al. (2008) in white hens in the first and second cycle of egg production, respectively. Similar values (831 and 855 mg DLys/d) have been reported by Lemme (2009) andVan Krimpen et al. (2015) based in the data of two meta-analytical studies which included 19 and six trials (mixed strain of hens), respectively. Kumar et al. (2018) reported that the DLys intake needed to optimize hen production varied depending on the trait studied. ...
Influence of the energy and digestible lysine contents of the diet on performance and egg quality traits of brown-egg laying hens from 19 to 59 weeks of age
Article
Full-text available
The influence of nutrient density and standardized ileal digestible lys (DLys) content of the diet on egg production and egg quality traits, was studied in brown-egg laying hens from 19 to 59 wk of age. The experimental design was completely randomized with 8 treatments arranged as a 2×4 factorial with 2 AMEn concentrations (2,680 and 2,780 kcal/kg) and 4 levels of DLys (0.68, 0.72, 0.76, and 0.80%). Each treatment was replicated 9 times and the experimental unit was a cage with 9 hens. Hen production, egg components (proportion of albumen, yolk, and shell), egg quality traits (Haugh units, egg shell strength, and incidence of broken, dirty, and shell-less eggs) were measured by period (28 d) and cumulatively. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with energy concentration, level of DLys, and their interactions as main effects. In addition, the effects of the level of DLys on the variables studied, were partitioned into its linear (L) and quadratic (Q) components. No interactions between AMEn and DLys content of the diet were detected for any of the traits studied and therefore, only main effects are presented. An increase in the AMEn concentration of the diet from 2,680 to 2,780 kcal/kg increased energy intake (P < 0.05) and egg weight (P < 0.001) and improved feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05). An Increase in DLys from 0.68 to 0.80% did not affect the number of eggs produced but increased linearly egg weight (P < 0.01) and egg mass production (P < 0.05). Diet did not affect egg quality. In conclusion, an increase in the AMEn content of the diet from 2,680 to 2,780 kcal/kg increased egg weight and improved feed efficiency. Laying hens require no more than 744 mg DLys/d (corresponding to 0.68% DLys) to optimize egg production. However, when the objective is to maximize egg weight, hens should consume at least 843 mg DLys/d (corresponding to 0.76% D Lys).
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... The requirements in DLys of laying hens have been studied by numerous authors with extremely variable recommendations (Faria et al., 2003;Bregendahl et al., 2008;Lemme, 2009;Kumar et al., 2018;Scappaticcio et al., 2021). Factors, such as strain, age, BW, egg mass production, management practices, ambient temperature, and health status, affect FI of the hens and thus, the percentage of amino acids (AA) required in the diets (Cupertino et al., 2009;Silva et al., 2015;Herrera et al., 2018). ...
... The data reported herein confirm that brown hens producing over 56 g of egg/d require at least 839 mg DLys/d to maximize production, in agreement with data of Scappaticcio et al. (2021). Lemme et al. (2009) andVan Krimpen et al. (2015), conducted 2 meta-analytical studies with mixed strains of hens that included 19 and 6 experiments, respectively. The authors reported that the requirement in DLys to optimize hen production was of 810 and 855 mg/d, respectively, in agreement with the results of the current research. ...
Influence of the energy concentration and the standardized ileal digestible lysine content of the diet on performance and egg quality of brown-egg laying hens from 18 to 41 weeks of age
Article
Full-text available
The influence of the energy and the standardized ileal digestible lysine (DLys) content of the diet on egg production and egg quality, was studied in brown-egg laying hens from 18 to 41 wk of age. The experimental design was completely randomized with 10 treatments organized as a 2 × 5 factorial with 2 energy concentrations (2,750 and 2,800 kcal AMEn/kg) and 5 levels of DLys (values varied from 0.66 to 0.78% and 0.67 to 0.79%, for the low and high energy diets, respectively). Each treatment was replicated 10 times (10 hens per replicate). The data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS with energy concentration and DLys content of the diets as main effects. In addition, the effects of the DLys on the variables studied were partitioned into its lineal and quadratic components. From 18 to 21 wk of age (pre-peak phase), diet composition had limited effects on egg production. From 22 to 41 wk of age (peak phase), however, an increase of 50 kcal AMEn/kg diet increased egg weight (P < 0.05) and tended to improve energy intake (P = 0.083) and feed conversion ratio (P = 0.074). An increase in DLys improved linearly (P < 0.001) egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed conversion, and energy conversion ratio, and tended to increase BW gain (P = 0.074). Diet composition did not any affect egg quality trait except shell strength that increased linearly (P < 0.05) with increases in the DLys. Cumulatively (18 to 41 wk of age), egg weight increased (P < 0.05) as the energy and the DLys content of the diet increased. In summary, an increase in energy and DLys content of the diet had limited effects on egg production during the pre-peak phase but improved egg production, feed conversion ratio, and BW gain during the peak phase. The data indicate that hens require at least 839 mg DLys/d to maximize egg production in the peak production phase.
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... To meet this increasing demand, the performance of laying hens has been improved by genetic selection breeding programs coupled with better nutritional strategies. Amino acid requirements for laying hens were published in NRC (1994) and a number of relevant investigations have been subsequently reported (Schutte et al., 1994;Ishibashi et al., 1998;Coon and Zhang, 1999;Harms and Russell, 2001;Faria et al., 2003;Leeson and Summers, 2005;Bregendahl et al., 2008;Lemme, 2009;Soares et al., 2019). However, amino acid requirements for brown layers have not been updated for nearly a decade and it is important to redetermine requirements for optimal production efficiency, welfare, and health, especially during the peak production period. ...
... The estimates of this model are valid if X < R; when X ≥ R, then Y = Max/Min. amino acid recommendations were reported based on meta-analyses (Lemme, 2009;Macelline et al., 2021). In Bregendahl et al. (2008), amino acid recommendations for Leghorn-type laying hens were estimated on maximum egg mass by using single-slope broken-line regression model using the nonlinear modeling option in JMP (version 6.0.3; ...
Essential amino acid recommendations for Isa Brown layers during peak and post peak production
Article
Full-text available
The present study was designed to re-evaluate the ideal amino acid ratios of total sulphur amino acids (TSAA), Thr, Val, Ile, Trp and Arg relative to Lys during peak and post-peak production phases in laying hens by using seven independent amino acid assays in similar experimental setting. A total of 348 25-weeks-old Isa Brown laying hens were allocated to individual battery cages. Each dietary treatment includes 6 replicates with two single cages (2 birds) as one replicate. All diets were formulated based on maize, soybean meal and canola meal to have identical crude protein (120 g/kg) concentrations and energy density (11.9 MJ/kg) but with five levels of dietary concentrations of tested amino acids. Hens were offered experimental diets from 27 to 33 weeks of age in experiment 1 (Exp. 1) and from 42 to 48 weeks of age in experiment 2 (Exp. 2). Daily egg production and weekly egg weights were recorded, and feed intakes were calculated for each experimental period to determine egg production rate, egg mass and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Linear and quadratic broken line models were used to estimate amino acid requirements on egg production rate, egg mass and FCR. Overall, quadratic broken line models estimated higher amino acid requirements for egg mass, egg production rate and FCR than linear broken line models by 23, 25 and 20%, respectively. The predicted daily Lys intake recommendation was 720 mg/bird/day with linear broken line model and 897 mg/bird/day with quadratic broken line model and the recommended ideal amino acid ratios relative to Lys are 85 for TSAA, 69 for Thr, 83 for Val, 87 for Ile, 22 for Trp, and 82 for Arg based on linear broken line model and 87 for TSAA, 67 for Thr, 83 for Val, 86 for Ile, 22 for Trp, and 78 for Arg based on quadratic broken line model estimations.
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... With 1% N urea addition, M. indicus improved Thr by 15%, Arg by 31%, Met by 27%, and Lys by 53%, higher than or similar to the treatments with 2.5% and 5.0% urea supplemented. Arg, Met, Lys, and Thr were commonly considered as limiting amino acids in animal diets (Lemme, 2009;Liao et al., 2015;Morris, 2007). Arg is regarded as conditionally essential AA which is typically sufficient in healthy animals but needs to be supplied with diet when catabolic stresses such as inflammation, infection, or dysfunction of kidney and small intestine occur (Morris, 2007). ...
... Significant (p < 0.05) improvement of Arg concentration after fermentation was observed in A. oryzae, R. oryzae, and M. indicus without urea supply, in all fungal strains when 1.0% N of urea was supplied, and in only R. oryzae, and M. indicus when urea supply increased from 2.5% N to 5.0% N. Met was considered as the first limiting AA for laying hens. It was reported that inclusion of Met from 2 to 6 g/kg feed could improve egg mass by two times (Lemme, 2009). The non-fermented substrate had around 3 g/kg d.b. of Met, which was significantly (p < 0.05) improved to 4.4 g/kg d.b. after fermentation with M. indicus when 1.0% N of urea was supplied. ...
Nutrition upgrading of corn-ethanol co-product by fungal fermentation: Amino acids enrichment and anti-nutritional factors degradation
Article
Corn wet distiller’s grain with solubles (WDGS) used as a feeding ingredient to monogastric animal diets is limited due to its imbalanced key amino acids, high fiber and potential existance of mycotoxins. Fermentation of WDGS by edible fungi has potential of upgrading the feedstock into nutritional and low-risk feeding ingredient for monogastric animals. In this study, four different fungi Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae, Mucor indicus and Trichoderma reesei were employed to ferment the mixture of WDGS and soybean hull at 75/25 ratio at 28 °C for 6 to 9 days. Urea at different concentration was supplied as additional nitrogen source. Results showed that, M. indicus improved total amino acids yield by 13.3% with over 95% consumption of the supplied urea at 1% N. Meanwhile, T. reesei degraded structural polysaccharides by 41% and concentrated amino acids by 19%. In addition, phytate was degraded by 53, 56, 31 and 20% with A. oryzae, R. oryzae, M. indicus, and T. reesei, respectively. Total aflatoxin and deoxynivalenol was detoxified via T. reesei by 52.8% and 92.9%, respectively, while zaeralenone was detoxified via M. indicus by 89.2%. This study demonstrated a feasible and economical way of producing nutritional-improved monogastric feeding ingredient from corn-ethanol plant.
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... In addition, Arginine is essential for young piglets which accounts for 40% of pigs, as most Arg supplied to their diet is used in the urea cycle of their livers during growth [9]. Arginine and Lys are also required in poultry diets and deficiency of these AA can lead to negative effect on feather growth [10]. Therefore, processes to degrade fiber and anti-nutrients, and increase protein content and indispensable AA are needed to transform CM into a highquality feeding ingredient. ...
Upcycling Canola Meal as Compared to Soybean Meal by Fungal Bioconversion for Potential Monogastric Animal Nutrition
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
Canola meal (CM) produced after oil extraction has potential to be used as a nutrient-rich feeding ingredient for monogastric animals if its fiber and anti-nutritional factors can be reduced while essential amino acids (AA) are increased. Fungal bioconversion provides a way of improving feeding value in CM for monogastric animals. This study explored the effects of three fungal strains namely, Rhizopus oryzae (R. oryzae), Mucor indicus (M. indicus), and Trichoderma reesei (T. reesei), via solid state fermentation, on profiles of AA, structure carbohydrates (SC), sinapic acid, and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of CM with and without supplement of urea as a nitrogen source. Soybean meal (SM) was investigated at the same condition as CM for comparison. Flask trials using each substrate with 70% moisture content (MC) were conducted for 192 h at 28 °C. T. reesei was determined as the most effective fungal strain due to its higher improvement of total AA by 10.7%, and threonine (Thr), methionine (Met), and lysine (Lys) by 19.2%, 20.4%, and 14.4%, respectively, when 1% N urea was supplied. T. reesei also degraded more SC (up to 26.6%) and produced more digestible sugars, compared to other strains. In addition, T. reesei treated SM and CM showed higher IVDMD than non-treated compared with other fungi. This study demonstrated the feasibility of fungal strain in improving feeding value of CM and SM for better monogastric animal diet. Graphical Abstract
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... Lisin merupakan salah satu faktor pembatas dalam formulasi pakan unggas (Sitompul, 2004), yang kedua metionin dan triptopan merupakan asam amino pembatas ketiga (Fenita et al., 2010). Lisin juga sering digunakan sebagai standar dalam perhitungan konsep ideal protein dan asam amino (Lemme, 2009). Metionin biji saga jauh lebih kecil dari bungkil kedelai, sehingga untuk pemanfaatan biji saga bisa dengan penambahan metionin sintetis. ...
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... This information is convenient for poultry nutritionists because they often change the feed formula to improve the economic return and sustainability of egg production farms. In this sense, protein is frequently investigated in poultry nutrition given its importance for growth [10,11], egg production [12,13], economic return [14,15], and sustainability of the farm [16,17]. Because amino acids are the basic constituents of proteins and that essential amino acids should be offered in the feed in a proper ratio with lysine [18], it seems reasonable to investigate the effects of balanced protein in a long-term egg production cycle. ...
Dynamics of Growth and Egg Traits in Three Dietary Balanced Protein Scenarios Applied for Laying Hens
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2022
The objective of this study was to evaluate laying hens from 8 to 102 weeks old, regarding their changes in performance, body composition, and egg components produced in three scenarios of nutrition. Three treatments designed to contain different levels of balanced protein (BP) were randomly assigned to the experimental units, performing ten replicates per treatment with 20 birds each. A standard feed was formulated to meet hen requirements and the ideal ratio between essential amino acids. Then, two experimental feeds were formulated to contain 20% above or below the dietary BP used in the standard feed. The responses evaluated were cumulated feed intake (g), daily feed intake (g/day), body weight (g), body composition (g of protein, fat, and ash), hen-housed egg production (%/hen-housed), egg production (%), egg weight (g), egg mass (g), and egg components (percentages of yolk, albumen, and eggshell). The dietary BP influenced the body composition, egg production, egg weight, and egg mass of white laying hens. The increase in dietary BP was related to an increase in body contents and egg weight, whereas hens consuming the low dietary balanced protein presented a lower body weight, leaner, and produced smaller eggs.
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... In addition, Arg is essential for young piglets with 40% of pigs Arg being supplied to their diet due to that most Arg is used in the urea cycle of their livers during growth [9]. Arg and Lys are also required in poultry diets and de ciency of these amino acids can lead to negative effect on feather growth [10]. Therefore, processes to degrade ber and anti-nutrients, and increase protein content and indispensable amino acids are needed to transform CM into a high-quality feeding ingredient. ...
Upcycling canola meal as compared to soybean meal by fungal bioconversion for potential monogastric animal nutrition
Preprint
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
Canola meal (CM) produced after oil extraction has potential to be used as nutrient-rich feeding ingredient for monogastric animals if its fiber, anti-nutritional factors can be reduced while essential amino acids can be improved. Fungal bioconversion provided a way of improving feeding value in CM for monogastric animals. This study explored the effects of three fungal strains namely, Rhizopus oryzae ( R. oryzae ), Mucor indicus ( M. indicus ), and Trichoderma reesei ( T. reesei ), via solid state fermentation, on profiles of amino acids, structure carbohydrates, sinapic acid, and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of CM with and without supplement of urea as nitrogen source. Soybean meal (SM) was investigated at the same condition as CM for comparison. Flask trials using each substrate with 70% moisture content were conducted for 192 h at 28°C. T. reesei was determined as the most effective fungal strain due to its higher improvement of total amino acids by 10.7%, and threonine (Thr), methionine (Met), and lysine (Lys) by 19.2%, 20.4%, and 14.4%, respectively, when 1% N urea was supplied. T. reesei also degraded more structural carbohydrates (up to 26.6%) and produced more digestible sugars, compared to other strains. In addition, T. reesei treated SM and CM showed higher IVDMD than non-treated compared with other fungi. This study demonstrated the feasibility of fungal strain in improving feeding value of CM and SM for better monogastric animal diet.
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... This demonstrated that the two fungal strains R. oryzae and M. indicus could use urea for key amino acids synthesis in its own biomass. This improvement in amino acid content and concentration can be of significant nutritional value to poultry and swine feeding programs because Arg, Met, Lys, and Trp are essential amino acids of which supply by common feed ingredients is relatively low [30][31][32]. ...
Enhanced protein and amino acids of corn–ethanol co-product by Mucor indicus and Rhizopus oryzae
Article
Full-text available
Upcycle of co-products from corn–ethanol plant into protein-rich animal feed with balanced key amino acids via solid-state fermentation is a promising approach to economically support both biofuel and animal feed industries. However, there are multiple types of solid-state fermentation microorganisms and growth conditions that have not been tested. In this study, Mucor indicus and Rhizopus oryzae were used to ferment corn-based wet distiller’s grains with solubles (WDGS). The effects of fermentation conditions (temperature, agitation, and moisture) and supplementations (extraneous carbon and nitrogen sources) were evaluated on protein production and amino acids profiles before and after fermentation. The study established best fermentation conditions (23 °C, static incubation for 4 days at 70% initial moisture content) to improve protein content for both R. oryzae and M. indicus. Moreover, urea supplied to R. oryzae and M. indicus improved protein concentration by 35 and 38%, and total amino acids content by 28 and 18%, respectively. The amount of 693.1 and 451.8 mg of additional total amino acids including 262.8 and 227.7 mg of key amino acids (lysine, methionine, tryptophan, and arginine) was synthesized by R. oryzae and M. indicus, respectively, per supply of 536 mg urea in 25 g of WDGS. This study demonstrated the feasibility of urea as a low-cost nitrogen source for amino acid biosynthesis in fungal fermentation of WDGS, which could contribute to the increasing demand for high-value monogastric animal feed.
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The impact of digestible lysine and sulfur amino acids on eggshell quality and egg weight control in old ISA brown hens during 62 to 74 weeks
Article
Modifying dietary amino acids has been proposed as a strategy to improve eggshell quality by slowing down increases in egg weight (EW). This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of digestible lysine (dLYS) and ratios of digestible sulfur amino acids (dTSAA) to dLYS on performance and eggshell quality in ISA brown hens. A total of 288 hens were individually housed and assigned to 8 treatments, which combined 2 levels of dLYS (5.9 and 5.5 g/kg) with 4 ratios of dTSAA:dLYS (90, 85, 80, and 75) in a factorial arrangement. The study lasted 12 wk, starting at 62 wk of age. The number of eggs was not affected by the interaction between dLYS and dTSAA:dLYS or their main effect. However, the interaction between dLYS and dTSAA:dLYS showed that reducing the dTSAA:dLYS ratio from 85 to 75 when hens were fed 5.5 g/kg of dLYS resulted in a lower EW. Conversely, when hens were fed 5.9 g/kg of dLYS, no significant difference was found in EW among the different ratios of dTSAA:dLYS. Although there was no interaction between the levels of dLYS and dTSAA:dLYS on eggshell quality, reducing the dLYS level from 5.9 to 5.5 slowed down the deterioration in eggshell-breaking strength and eggshell thickness, regardless of the dTSAA:dLYS ratio. These findings suggest that adjusting dietary dLYS while maintaining the dTSAA:dLYS ratio of no less than 85 may be an effective strategy for decelerating the deterioration of eggshell quality in laying hen operations without impacting the egg production rate.
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Amino acid requirements in laying hens at different energy intake levels
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2006
The effects of different dietary balanced protein intake levels (550, 600, 650 and 700 mg apparent faecal digestible (AFD) Lys/hen/d) at two different dietary energy intake levels (maintenance (M) and above maintenance (AM)) were determined during peak production (24 through 39 weeks of age). In all diets the ratios among all AFD essential amino acids and protein were kept constant. Each treatment group consisted of 6 replicates of 12 individually housed hens (cage size 0.2 x 0.5 m). The hens had unlimited access to fresh drinking water through two nipple drinkers and feed availability was restricted. Lights were on 16 hours per day. Restricting the energy intake of laying hens in order to minimise weight gain, hardly affected egg production parameters but improved feed efficiency (P<0.05) during the 16 weeks experimental period. Average weight gain of the low-energy-intake groups (M, 298 kcal/hen/d) was 19 g/hen over the entire experimental period and was significantly higher (71 g/hen) for the high-energy-intake groups (AM, 313 kcal/hen/d). Increasing the daily amino acid intake up to 650 mg Lys/hen/d maximised laying %. Hen weight significantly increased between 550 and 650 mg AFD Lys intake, whereas it reached a plateau above 650 mg AFD Lys. This indicates that a daily AFD Lys intake below 650 mg is not sufficient to reach the maximum body protein accretion. Daily egg mass production and feed conversion ratio (FCR), however, improved linearly up to the highest tested AFD Lys level (700 mg). This response of the hens to daily amino acid intake was hardly affected by energy intake level. Based on the results of this trial it can be concluded that the balanced protein requirement for maximum daily egg mass production and minimum FCR is probably higher than 700 mg AFD Lys/hen/d. Moreover, feed restriction enables steering of the body weight development of laying hens during the production period, which can improve feed efficiency.
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The Requirement for Sulfur Amino Acid by Laying Hens as Influenced by the Protein Concentration
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 1990
Two experiments were conducted with White Leghorn laying hens to determine the influence of the dietary CP concentration on the requirement for TSAA. Supplements of 0, .05, .1, or .15% of DL-methionine (Experiment 1) and 0, .025, .05, .075, .1, or .125% of DL-methionine (Experiment 2) were each added to corn-soybean meal diet with 13,16, or 19% CP. Experiment 1 was conducted for 4 wk (four groups of 10 hens, 32 wk of age per treatment). Experiment 2 was conducted for 5 wk (three groups of 9 hens, 59 wk of age per treatment). Methionine supplementation significantly improved egg production in Experiment 2, and in Experiment 1, the increase in egg production approached significance (P = .077). Egg production was highly significiantly improved by increasing the protein level in both experiments. Egg weight was increased by methionine supplementation at all protein levels. For Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, the estimated requirement for TSAA in order to achieve maximum egg mass (grams of egg per day) was .61 and .54% for 13% CP, .61 and .65% for 16% CP, and .68 and .73% for 19% CP. The methionine requirement for maximum egg mass in Experiment 2 was .29%, .36 and .41% for 13, 16, and 19% CP, respectively, but was not unproved in Experiment 1 by increasing the concentration of protein. Feed per gram of egg, but not feed per dozen eggs, was improved by methionine supplementation at all CP levels. Body weight gain generally increased along with the CP levels and with methionine supplementation, but the methionine requirement for maximum body weight did not appear to increase along with the increase in protein concentration. The results of the present study show that the concentration of dietary protein should be considered when determining the requirement of laying hens for TSAA.
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Requirement of the Laying Hen for Sulfur Amino Acids
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 1994
Two experiments with individually caged laying hens were conducted to determine the requirement for TSAA. In Experiment 1, the corn-soybean basal diet contained .48% TSAA to which increasing dose levels of DL-methionine were added providing at the highest supplemental level .645% TSAA. The experimental diets were fed for 12 wk, covering the early stage of laying from 25 to 37 wk of age. In Experiment 2, a corn-soybean basal diet containing of .51% TSAA was used along with DL-methionine supplements to determine TSAA requirement during the entire laying cycle of 52 wk (25 to 77 wk of age). The highest supplemental level of DL-methionine in this experiment provided .76% TSAA. The TSAA requirement was found to be higher for maximum efficiency of feed utilization than for obtaining maximum egg production. Based on feed conversion efficiency and at an egg mass yield of 55 g per hen-day, the requirement for TSAA was estimated to be about 740 mg per hen-day, of which about 440 mg was methionine, throughout a laying period of 52 wk. It was calculated that the estimated TSAA requirement was equivalent to approximately 660 mg true digestible SAA per hen-day.
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The Combined Effects of Dietary Lysine and Total Sulfur Amino Acid Level on Egg Production Parameters and Egg Components in Dekalb Delta Laying Hens
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2004
Dekalb Delta hens were randomly assigned to one of eight dietary treatment groups. Two intakes of lysine (860 and 959 mg/hen per day) and 4 intakes of TSAA (635, 689, 811, 877 mg/hen per day) were combined in a 2 x 4 factorial treatment arrangement and fed from 20 to 43 wks of age. A phase feeding regimen was implemented at 43 wk with lysine intake lowered to 715 or 816 mg/hen per day and TSAA to 578, 607, 699, or 779 mg/hen per day. Cage was the experimental unit (5 hens/cage), and dietary treatments were replicated 8 times. Egg production (EP) and feed consumption were not affected by dietary treatments. Feed efficiency improved linearly by increasing TSAA intake during phase I only. Hen weight gain was improved (P < or = 0.03) by increased dietary lysine (94.2 vs. 135.2 g weight gain/hen). During phase I, hen weight gain was affected quadratically (P < or = 0.02) by TSAA. Increasing TSAA intake up to 689 mg/hen per day increased hen weight gain, but gain decreased at the highest intake. Egg weights (EW) increased (P < or = 0.02) from 59.02 to 60.21 g with increased lysine intake. Increasing lysine intake increased wet and dry albumen percentage, whereas dry yolk percentage decreased with increasing lysine. Total sulfur amino acid intake affected wet yolk, dry yolk, and solids in a quadratic trend, with hens fed 811 and 699 mg/d producing eggs with the greatest yolk solids. Wet and dry shell percentages were not affected by lysine or TSAA, and specific gravity decreased linearly during phase II and overall, with increased dietary TSAA. In conclusion, the dietary lysine at 959 and 816 mg/hen per day for phases I and II, respectively, optimized EW and feed efficiency. Because EP was not affected by dietary lysine, the dietary level for optimizing EP is closer to 860 and 715 mg/hen per day for phases I and II, respectively. Dietary TSAA level for maximum EP and feed efficiency was near 811 and 699 mg/hen per day but for EW may be closer to 877 and 779 mg/hen per day for phases I and II, respectively.
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Effectiveness of liquid DL-methionine hydroxy analogue-free acid (DL-MHA-FA) compared to DL-methionine on performance of laying hens
Article
A two-factorial experiment was conducted to compare the effect of supplemented DL-methionine (DL-Met) or liquid DL-methionine hydroxy analogue-free acid (DL-MHA-FA) on performance in laying hens. The calculated methionine- and Met + Cys-content of the basal diet were 0.23% and 0.51%, respectively. Three graded levels of DL-Met were supplemented in a way that the complementary inclusion level of DL-Met (0.05, 0.10, 0.15%) corresponded to 65% of that of liquid DL-MHA-FA. The experimental period was 24 weeks, from 22-45 weeks of age. The relative effectiveness of liquid DL-MHA-FA compared to DL-Met was found to be 67% and 69% respectively with regard to daily egg mass and feed conversion ratio. In addition results provide evidence that methionine deficiency deteriorates plumage condition and increases mortality particularly by cannibalism.
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Methionine + cystine requirements of semi-heavy laying hens from the starter to peak of egg production
Article
  • Jun 2006
A trial was carried out to determine the nutritional requeriments of methionine + cystine (M+C). A total of 360 laying hens was allotted to a completely randomized design with five treatments and 12 replicates of six birds. The corn-soybean meal based diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (17.2% CP) and isoenergy (2,800 kcal ME/kg) to meet the bird requeriment in all nutrients, except for M+C, that was supplemented with DL-methionine (99%) in replacement with corn starch. The following total M+C levels were obtained: 0.61, 0.68, 0.75, 0.82, and 0.89%. All variables were evaluated from 20 to 44 weeks old. Egg weight, egg mass and egg mass:feed ratio were all affected quadratically by the M+C levels. The estimates obtained were: 0.73, 0.69, and 0.69% of total lysine and 0.66, 0.63, and 0.63% of digestible M+C, respectively. Therefore, it is recommended levels of 0.70 and 0.64% or intake of 762 and 697 mg total and digestible M+C/bird/day, respectively, for semi-heavy laying hens from the starter to peak of egg production.
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Nutrition of chicks and layers
Article
When formulating least-cost poultry diets, ME concentration should be optimised by an iterative procedure, not entered as a fixed value. This iteration must calculate profit margins by taking into account the way in which feed intake and saleable outputs vary with ME concentration.In the case of broilers, adjustment of critical amino acid contents in direct proportion to ME concentration does not result in birds of equal fatness. To avoid an increase in fat deposition at higher energy levels, it is proposed that amino acid specifications should be adjusted in proportion to changes in the net energy supplied by the feed. A model is available which will both interpret responses to amino acids in laying trials and give economically optimal estimates of amino acid inputs for practical feed formulation. Flocks coming into lay and flocks nearing the end of the pullet year have bimodal distributions of rates of lay, with the result that calculations of requirement based on mean output will underestimate the optimal amino acid input for the flock.Chick diets containing surplus protein can lead to impaired utilisation of the first-limiting amino acid. This difficulty can be avoided by stating amino acid requirements as a proportion of the protein.
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Nutritional Requirements in Methionine + Cystine for White-Egg Laying Hens During the First Cycle of Production
Article
A total of 288 leghorn laying hens were used in an experiment to determine methionine+cystine (TSAA) requirements. The addition of six levels of DL-methionine to a basal diet containing 14.4% of crude protein resulted in 0.484, 0.534, 0.584, 0.634, 0.684, and 0.734% TSAA contents. This experiment lasted from 22 to 38 week of age. Increasing TSAA from 0.484 to 0.734% had a quadratic effect on egg production, egg weight, feed intake, feed conversion, and body weight. Based on quadratic regression, TSAA requirements for maximum egg production, egg weight, egg mass, and body weight gain and the best feed conversion were 0.658, 0.681, 0.664, 0.683, and 0.665%, respectively. White-Egg laying hens required 0.67% TSAA in diets or 737 mg TSAA per hen daily from 22 to 38 wk of age (with feed consumption of 110 g).
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Bioefficacy Determination of Methionine Hydroxy Analog-Free Acid Relative to DL-Methionine in Laying Hen Diets with Limited Methionine Using Different Regression Models
Article
A study was conducted to compare bioefficacy of liquid DL-methionine hydroxy analogue-free acid (MHA-FA) and DL-methionine (DL-Met) in laying hens. Biological efficacy was determined for egg production, egg mass, and egg weight using five regression models. Four levels of DL-Met (0.012, 0.024, 0.036, and 0.048%) and MHA-FA (0.014, 0.027, 0.041, and 0.054%) were added on an equimolar basis to a basal diet containing 14.97% protein and 0.27% methionine. Twenty week old Hy-Line W-36 hens were used in this trial with 8 replicates per treatment. The bioefficacy of MHA-FA related to DL-Met was 0.77 on a weight basis (or 0.87 on a molar basis) based on egg mass with the best goodness of model fit (average R<sup>2</sup> equal to 83.33%). The bioefficacy was 0.71 on a weight basis (or 0.80 on a molar basis) based on egg production with the goodness of model fit at average R<sup>2</sup> equal to 76.98%. The bioefficacy was 1.03 on a weight basis (or 1.17 on a molar basis) based on egg weight with the goodness of model fit at average R<sup>2</sup> equal to 68.83%.
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