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Abstract
The effect of DL-methionine and betaine supplementation on growth performance of 2,400
male broilers in the age period of 1 to 38 d, and on carcass composition of a subsample
of 384 birds was examined. Three dose levels of DL-methionine (0, 0.05, and 0.10%)
and two doses of betaine (0 and 0.04%) were supplemented in different combinations
to methioninedeficient diets. Two types of diets were fed as starters and growers:
either corn-soybean diets or practical diets typical for the Dutch broiler industry.
All diets were fortified with 220 ppm choline in order to avoid a deficiency in methyl
groups. Increasing DL-methionine supplementation significantly improved daily weight
gain and feed conversion efficiency. Supplemental betaine did not affect bird growth.
Betaine slightly improved feed conversion in diets without supplemental DL-methionine,
but did not affect this parameter in diets with added DL-methionine. Breast meat yield
was significantly increased by about 1.5 percentage points by the addition of 0.05%
DL-methionine, whereas 0.04% betaine only tended to increase breast meat yield in
the range of 0.3 to 0.6 percentage points. The type of diet did not have any effect
on the responses obtained. In summary, there was no evidence for betaine to spare
DL-methionine as an essential amino acid supplement in broiler diets.