Effects of Energy and Digestible Methionine Level in Diet on Performance and Reproductive Traits of Arian Broiler Breeder Hens during Production Period

A 28-week experiment was conducted to study the effects of dietary energy and digestible methionine level on performance and reproductive traits of broiler breeder hens, using 280 Arian broiler breeder hens and 20 males at 26 weeks of age. The experiment was done as 2×2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 5 replicates. Dietary treatments were formulated with 2 levels of energy (2740 and 2540 kcal/kg) and 2 levels of digestible methionine (0.25 and 0.28%). Dietary energy level had no significant effect on egg production, egg weight and feed conversion ratio, but hens were received lower energy level had a lower daily weight gain compared to the hens received recommended energy level (P<0.05). Egg production, feed conversion ratio and body weight gain of these hens didn’t affect by digestible methionine level. Hatchability was lower (P<0.001) in eggs produced by hens fed normal energy diet than those fed the diet with lower energy level. Also, decreasing energy intake increased fertility and grade one chicks (P<0.001). Dietary digestible methionine level had no effect on hatchability and fertility traits. Results indicate that diet with 2540 kcal metabolizable energy could be used for Arian broiler breeder hens without any adverse effect on performance and reproductive traits.

Keywords: Broiler breeder, Digestible methionine, Energy, Fertility, Hatchability, Performance.

Abstract published in Research on Animal Production Vol. 7, No. 13, Spring and Summer 2016.