Varying levels of protein and amino acids on the performance of laying hens

An experiment was conducted involving Frizzle x CARI-red hens (84) to evaluate dietary protein and limiting amino acid levels for optimum egg production during 22–34 weeks of age. Four dietary treatments viz. 18, 16, 14 and 12% protein with varying levels of amino acids fed to frizzle (10) and normal feathered hens (11) with a total of 21 hens per treatment. Overall hen-day production was significantly (P<0.01) higher in hens fed 18% (72.8%) and 14% CP (69.6%) in comparison to those fed 12% CP (57.0%). Daily feed intake, feed conversion efficiency, egg-weight and egg quality did not differ significantly due to different dietary protein levels. However, net feed conversion efficiency was significantly (P<0.01) depressed in hens fed 12% CP. Egg production or feed conversion efficiency was not influenced due to feather pattern. The study indicated that 14% CP with 0.68% lysine, 0.32% methionine and 0.62% methionine + cystine in diet would be optimum for maximum egg production.