Comparison of applied bioefficacy of 65% and 80% for MHA‑FA relative to DL‑Met in broilers
In this trial, the effectiveness of MHA-FA supplementation was not only compared to DL-Met replacing MHA-FA at a 100:65 weight ratio but also a replacement at 100:80 weight ratio. The latter simulated a scenario which is sometimes found in commercial practice. Accordingly, both DL-Met treatments outperformed MHA-FA in terms of final body weight and feed conversion ratio. Breast meat yield was 0.4%-pts higher with DL-Met at 100:80 weight ratio indicating that application of a high bioefficacy for MHA-FA can result in performance drops. Interestingly, final body weight and FCR were significantly improved with DL-Met compared to MHA-FA when supplemented in the recommended 100:65 weight ratio. Use of DL-Met increased profitability in terms of income over feed cost by 4%.
This trial was an eye-opener, demonstrating that assigning an overestimated relative bioefficacy to MHA-FA may compromise performance, while replacing MHA-FA with only 65% DL-Met achieved at least the same level of performance.
Professor of Animal Nutrition, Federal University of Paraná
The objective of this trial was to compare broiler performance and profitability when MHA-FA is replaced by DL-Met at a weight ratio of 100:65 but also of 100:80 with the latter sometimes applied in commercial feed production.
Location: Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
Project team leaders: Patricia Tomazini, Andreas Lemme, Victor Naranjo, Mariane Possamai, Rafael Rancatti, Alex Maiorka
| Animals | 936 male Cobb 500 broilers (45.0 g/chick); 24 birds per floor pen, 39 pens |
| Design | Three dietary treatments in a randomized design |
| Housing | Floor pens, 1.85 m², fresh wood shavings on reused litter |
| Diets | Corn, soybean meal, meat and bone meal-based diets
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| Feeding | Pelleted feed; ad libitum; 5 experimental phases: 1-7-14-24-35-40 days |
| Parameters | Final body weight, feed per gain, breast meat yield based on 3 selected birds/pen |
| Duration | Days 1-40 |
Trial results
- Application of a bioefficacy of 80% for MHA-FA resulted in a significantly lower final body weight and a significantly higher feed conversion ratio compared to the DL-Met treatment (Figures 1 and 2). Breast meat yield was reduced by 0.4%-points (Figure 3).
- Replacing MHA-FA with DL-Met at a 100:65 weight ratio revealed significantly higher final body weight, significantly lower feed conversion ratio and similar breast meat yield (Figures 1, 2, 3).
- Calculation of income over feed cost based on Q4 2024 feed prices and price for delivered broilers (0.90 US$/kg BW) showed up to 4% or 0.07 US$/bird higher profitability when using DL-Met compared to MHA-FA (Figure 4)
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