the influence of protein, methionine and lysine feeded level, in hens performances during the plateau part of the laying curve

The experiment has been carried out in the Poultry Department from the Didactic Station of Banat`s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Timisoara, on laying hens - the Shaver 579 hybrid, being in the plateau part of the laying curve. We have distributed the hens in 4 groups (n=25), with fodder recipes including two protein levels (16.2% - group 1 and respectively 15.2% groups 2,3 and 4) and different amino acid contents (about 0.77% lysine and 0.38% methionine – groups 1 and 2; only 0.70% lysine and 0.34% methionine group 3, respectively 0.82% lysine and 0.42% methionine group 4). For the entire studied period, the highest egg production and the lower specific consumption, was registered for group 4 and the lowest production performances were assigned in group 3, which had been fed with a diet containing 15.2% crude protein and an amino-acids level lower with 10% than the NRC 1994 requirements. A strong positive correlation (r=0.80, p=0.015) for the egg production versus protein, lysine and methionine intake was obtained in lot 3.