ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of dietary methionine levels on growth, production
performance, and egg quality in Hy-Line Brown laying hens
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1
Dankook University, Department of Animal Biotechnology, Cheonan, 330-714, South Korea
2
Dankook University, Smart Animal Bio Institute, Cheonan, 330-714, South Korea
3
Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Multan, 60000, Pakistan
4
Daehan Food Co., Ltd., R&D Center, Incheon, South Korea
Publication date: 2026-04-09
Corresponding author
I. H. Kim
Dankook University, Department of Animal Biotechnology, Cheonan, 330-714, South Korea
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Determining the dietary requirements of sulphur containing amino
acids (SAA), particularly methionine (Met), is critical for formulating nutritionally
balanced poultry diets. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects
of different dietary Met levels on growth, production and egg quality of laying
hens from 65 to 72 weeks of age. A total of 480 Hy-Line Brown laying hens
were randomly assigned to six dietary groups for eight weeks. The treatments
consisted of diets formulated to provide 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, and 120% o of
the SAA levels recommended by the National Research Council (NRC), with
100% SAA serving as the control (CON). Growth was recorded at the beginning
and at weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8, while egg production and feed intake data were
measured weekly. Egg quality parameters were recorded at weeks 2, 4, 6,
and 8. Supplementation with 90, 95, and 120% SAA significantly reduced egg
production, egg weight, and feed conversion ratio (FCR), while 105 and 110%
SAA levels were comparable to the CON. Egg quality traits, including Haugh
unit, eggshell strength, and eggshell thickness were unaffected by the dietary
treatments. These findings demonstrate that decreasing Met to levels below
NRC recommendations, or increasing it by more than 10%, negatively affects
production performance. The NRC-recommended dose is therefore appropriate
for Hy-Line Brown laying hens at 64 weeks of age.
FUNDING
The present research was supported by the research fund of Dankook University in 2025.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
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