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METABOLISM AND NUTRITION |


* Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UR83 Recherches Avicoles, F-37380 Nouzilly, France;
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UE609 Unité Avicole, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; and
Ajinomoto Eurolysine S.A.S., 153 Rue de Courcelles, F-75817 Paris Cedex 17, France
1 Corresponding author: berri{at}tours.inra.fr
Responses to increased dietary Lys concentrations were evaluated on 1,584 Ross 308 male broilers between 21 and 42 d of age housed according to 2 bird densities. The experimental design was composed of 8 factorial treatments: 2 bird densities (22 or 44 broilers/ 1.7 m2 pen) x 4 true digestible (TD) Lys levels (0.83, 0.93, 1.03, and 1.13%). There were 6 repetitions per treatment. Birds were weighed individually at d 21 and 42. Feed consumption was recorded per pen. Body weight gain and feed conversion were calculated over the experimental period. Forty-eight broilers per treatment were dissected at 42 d of age. Final pH and drip loss during storage were measured on the pectoralis major. Density adversely affected feed intake (169 ± 1 and 160 ± 1 g/d with 22 and 44 birds per pen, respectively, P < 0.05), growth rate (97.4 ± 0.5 and 91.0 ± 0.7 g/d, P < 0.05), and feed conversion (1.730 ± 0.008 and 1.760 ± 0.006, P < 0.05). Except for feed intake, there was no interaction between the effects of bird density and dietary Lys. An increase in dietary TD Lys from 0.83 to 0.93% resulted in an increased growth rate (from 91.8 ± 1.6 to 95.5 ± 0.8 g/d, P < 0.05), improved feed conversion (from 1.783 ± 0.008 to 1.742 ± 0.009, P < 0.05), and increased breast meat yield (22.0 ± 0.1% to 22.7 ± 0.2%, P < 0.01). Performance and body composition traits were not significantly improved for concentrations of TD Lys higher than 0.93%. However, final breast pH increased from 0.83 up to 1.03% TD Lys in the diet (6.02 ± 0.01 vs. 5.91 ± 0.01, P < 0.05), and drip loss correlatively decreased (0.85 ± 0.03% vs. 1.10 ± 0.06, P < 0.05). This result opens new way of research for the definition of an amino acid requirement and on metabolic pathways involved in variations of breast muscle pH.
Key Words: broiler growth lysine density pH breast meat
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