Evaluation of Dietary Methionine, Folic Acid and Cyanocobalamin (B12) and Their Interactions in Laying Hen Performance

Abstract

An experiment conducted to examine the effect of methionine (M), folic acid (F) and vitamin B₁₂ and their interactions on Bovans White laying hen performance, egg quality, nutrient digestabilities and relative economic efficiency (REE) from 28 to 43 weeks of age. The experiment was conducted in a 3 x 3 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments, three levels of M (0.40, 0.45 and 0.50%), three levels of F (6.0, 9.0 and 12.0 mg/kg) and two levels of B₁₂ (0.01 and 0.02 mg/kg) were used. 0.45% M, 0.50 mg F/kg and 0.01 mg B₁₂/kg considered as a control. The results indicated that layers fed high level of M gave the best egg production (EP), the least feed consumption (FC) compared with either medium or low M levels with no significant differences. Layers fed high level of M recorded high egg weight (EW) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with either medium or low M levels with significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). The interactions of M x F x B₁₂ had significant effect on egg shell percentage (ESP), egg content percentage (ECP) and blood hemoglobin (BH), with no significant effect on EP, FC, FCR and egg shell thickness (ST). The interaction of high level of M with F and B₁₂ supplementation gave the best performance and REE compared with either medium or low M levels. It could be concluded that feeding diet at 0.50% M with supplemented F and B₁₂ (12.0 and 0.02 mg/kg, respectively) gave the best performance and REE.