Bio-efficacy of herbal methionine in growing pullets

Day old (240) White Leghorn female chicks divided into 12 equal groups were offered corn- groundnut meal based rations containing either supplemental DL-methionine (T₁), herbal methionine HM-6 (T₂) or HM-7 (T₃) each allocated randomly to four groups from day 7 to 18 weeks of age. The T₁ had higher (P<0.05) weight gain than T₂ and T₃. The FCR and EER were wider and the PER was lower in T₂ and T₃ than T₁. The age at 50% egg production was delayed (P<0.05) by 4 and 6 days, in T₂ and T₃ groups, respectively, compared to T,. The HM-6 and HM-7 were only 96.6 and 96% bio-efficient for growth of WLH chicks compared to DL-methionine. It was concluded that Herbomethione HM-6 and HM-7 were not effective sources of supplemental methionine as the DL-methionine for growing WLH pullets.