Effect of two types of methionine supplement on performance of finisher broiler

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of two types of synthetic methionine supplement (Dl methionine and MHA FA; Methionine Hydroxyl Analogue Free Acid, also known as Alimet) on performance of finisher broiler. Two hundred and thirty four (234) day old Hubbard Flex broilerschicks were allotted to six dietary treatments and replicated three times using a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement in a complete randomized design which lasted four weeks for the starter. A diet devoid of methionine was formulated with subsequent addition of three graded levels (0.15, 0.20 and 0.25 %) of each type of synthetic methionine to constitute the following dietary treatment: 0.15% DL methionine (T1), 0.20% DL methionine (T2), 0.25% DL methionine (T3), 0.15% MHA FA (T4), 0.20%MHA FA (T5) and 0.25%MHA FA(T6). Parameters measured included body weight gain and feed intake. Also, blood samples were collected from the wings for blood chemical analysis. Result obtained from this study shows that methionine type had significant (P<0.05) effect on growth performance parameters. On the other hand, methionine levels had no significant (P>0.05) effect on growth performance and blood chemistry. There was no interaction between methionine type and level of methionine during the study. It was concluded that, birds fed MHA FA diets had improved growth performance. Birds fed MHA FA at 0.25% level of inclusion had the best result for weight gain. Although, feeding DL methionine at 0.15% gave higherfeed efficiency economical. Broiler birds can be fed with diets up to 0.25% MHA FA supplements.Key words: Methionine, performance, blood chemistry, broiler