Effect of Drug Additives and Type of Diet on Methionine Requirement for Growth, Feed Efficiency, and Feathering of Broilers Reared in Floor Pens

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted in litter floor pens with broiler-type chicks to determine the effect of amprolium-ethopabate, lasalocid, monensin, and lincomycin on growth, feed efficiency, and feathering responses to graded levels of methionine. In Experiment 1, a pea-corn diet was supplemented with 5 levels of methionine (0 to .3%) in combination with amprolium-ethopabate (125 to 140 ppm), lasalocid (125 ppm), or monensin (121 ppm). In the second experiment, two different types of diets (corn-soy and pea-corn) were used which differed primarily in the source of protein. These two diets were supplemented with methionine (.1%), lincomycin (2 ppm), or a combination of lincomycin and methionine. Either lasalocid (100 ppm) or monensin (100 ppm) was used as a coccidiostat.At a suboptimum level of sulfur-containing amino acids (SAA), lasalocid in Experiments 1 and 2 and lincomycin in Experiment 2 were found to have growth and feed efficiency stimulating effects. The SAA requirement for growth was reduced by as much as .1% in the presence of lasalocid. The SAA requirement was not affected by the use of monensin up to 49 days, but it was considerably increased after 49 days due to a faster rate of gain brought on by the withdrawal of monensin from the diet. The different coccidiostats and methionine had significant effects on the score for feathers in the litter and on feather weight. Overall floor-feather score and feather weight were better on the diet containing lasalocid than on diets containing the other two coccidiostats.Growth response to a lincomycin supplement was much more pronounced on the corn-soy or pea-corn diet containing lasalocid and no supplemental methionine than on other combinations. In contrast, growth response to the lincomycin supplement was very small in the presence of added methionine. Lincomycin gave a considerable and a significant growth response in the presence of monensin on the corn-soy and pea-corn diets, respectively. Lincomycin had no effect on growth on the pea-corn diet containing monensin and no added methionine. Even though the monensin fed birds outgained the lasalocid fed birds during the 5-day withdrawal period, their body weight was lower than that of the lasalocid or amprolium fed birds. The growth depressing effect of monensin was also seen at the level of 100 ppm, and this was not counteracted by adding the high level of methionine beyond the NRC (1977) requirement. (

Effects of Coccidiostats and Dietary Protein on Performance and Water Consumption in Broiler Chickens

“…Because females exhibit a higher feed intake per body weight gain, this would result in a higher milligram dose rate per body weight gain of anticoccidial and thus possibly exacerbate weight depression in the females. Several reports have concluded that ionophore medications can depress body weights through reduced feed intake (Morrison et al, 1979;Patel et al, 1980;Willis and Baker, 1981), but other studies have found no effect (Frigg and Broz, 1983;Gard et al, 1975). These contradictory findings may be partially atrributable to differing levels of medication.…”

“…However, it has been reported that these drugs may depress growth performance of broiler chickens not challenged with coccidia (Morrison et al, 1979;Damron et al, 1977;Patel et al, 1980). This growth depression is attributable to reduced feed intake; thus, compensatory growth is often noted when these anticoccidials are withheld from finisher diets (McDougald and McQuiston, 1980).…”

Age and Gender Depending Growth of Feathers and Feather-Free Body in Modern Fast Growing Meat-Type Chickens

“…Open Journal of Animal Sciences As reviewed by Leeson and Walsh [9], the nutrient supply impacts on feather growth and development. Stimulated feather growth was observed with increasing dietary CP and SAA supply [18] [20] [22], mainly due to varying body proportion of feathers, connective tissue and muscle tissue [59]. Additionally, more feathers were found on the litter following a high protein diet [58] indicating faster feather development with subsequent moult.…”

Effect of Dietary Protein Level and Monensin on Performance of Chicks

“…However, this coccidiostat often depresses growth performance when included in the diet of healthy chicks (Gard et al, 1975;Damron et al, 1977). Patel et al (1979) concluded that the methionine requirement of chicks was reduced in the presence of monensin due to the growth depressing effect of the drug. In contrast, research from our laboratory has indicated that monensin has no effect on the chick's sulfur amino acid (SAA) requirement (Baker and Robbins, 1979;Willis and Baker, 1980).…”