The effect of four betaine products on replacing methionine and choline supplementation on growth performance in broiler chickens from 10 to 28 days of age

Introduction and Objectives

Betaine (BET) acts as a methyl donor to convert homocysteine into methionine (MET), sparing both choline (CHOL) and MET. In the last years, synthetic MET and CHOL became a key concern in feed formulation as their prices have increased and hence BET can be an economic alternative. Objective: to test the bio-equivalency of 4 commercial BET products (3 anhydrous and one hydrochloride) in broiler grower diets low in MET and CHOL.

Materials and Methods

840 day old males and females Ross 308 broilers were housed separately in 42 pens (2.2 m2 ).
Experimental diets were fed to broilers from 10–28 days of age.
7 dietary treatments with 6 replicates (20 birds / pen) as follows:

T1) Low CHOL, no added MET and a ratio d.M+C/d.Lys of -10% of standard (0.63). d. Lys = 10.5 g/kg feed.

T2) T1 + 0.7 g/kg MET from DL-MET with d.M+C/d.Lys ratio at standard (0.70),

T3) T1 + 0.7 g/kg CHOL from choline chloride,

T4) T1 + 0.7 g/kg BET as ActiBeet® VC,

T5) T1 + 0.7 g/kg BET as ActiBeet® L,

T6) T1 + 0.7 g/kg BET as Product C,

T7) T1 + 0.7 g/kg BET as Product D.

Response parameters:

Body weight gain,

Feed intake,

Feed conversion ratio.

Data analysed with ANOVA (Genstat).

The effect of four betaine products on replacing methionine and choline supplementation on growth performance in broiler chickens from 10 to 28 days of age - Image 2

Results

No interaction “Treatment x Sex” was observed in any trait (P > 0.10).

Conclusion

Addition of 0.7 g/kg BET (on equimolar basis) from ActiBeet® VC, ActiBeet® L and Product C were able to fully replace the equal amount of added MET and CHOL in broiler grower diets when d. M+C/d.Lys ratio decreased from 70 to 63%.