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Influence of Strain or Breed Upon the Protein Requirement of Laying Hens1
Influence of Strain or Breed Upon the Protein Requirement of Laying Hens 1 R. H. HARMS, B. L. DAMRON AND P. W. WALDROUP Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainesville, Florida (Received for publication September 3, 1965)
T
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Four major strains of commercial egg production type day-old chicks were purchased from commercial hatcheries. Two of these were of Kimber breeding (K 137 and K 155) and the other two were Hylines 1 Florida Agr. Exp. Sta. lournal Series No. 2187.
(934 C and 934 H). A group of New Hampshire chicks was also purchased at the same time. A sixth group consisted of Cornell Random Bred chicks which were hatched at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. All chicks were reared under identical management and nutritional level in the same pen. For the first eight weeks they were fed a starter diet containing 22 percent protein and 2079 kilocalories of productive energy per kilogram. At the end of this time the protein level was reduced to 16 percent. This feed was given until 23 weeks of age at which time the pullets were housed in individual laying cages and fed a layer diet containing 17 percent protein. At one day of age the chicks were wingbanded, dubbed, debeaked and vaccinated intraocularly for bronchitis and Newcastle disease. Fowl pox vaccination was given at four weeks of age and bronchitis and Newcastle vaccination was repeated at eight and 22 weeks of age. At 27 weeks of age six groups of five individually caged pullets from each breed or strain were placed on each of the experimental diets shown in Table 1. These diets contained 17, 15, 13 and 11 percent protein which was accomplished by varying the corn and soybean meal content. These diets were maintained isocaloric (2156 kilocalories of productive energy per kilogram) by varying the level of animal fat. Adjustments were also made in the amount of ground limestone and defluorinated phosphate in order to keep the calcium and phosphorus content constant. Changes in formulation were made on the basis of val-
272
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
HE protein requirement of the laying hen has been reported to be as high as 17 percent or as low as 11 percent. A review of the literature concerning the protein requirement of the laying hen was made by Harms et al. (1962) in a paper in which they reported that the energy content of the diet and season of the year would influence this requirement. It was later reported, by Harms and Waldroup (1962), that some strains have a higher protein requirement than others and that strain or breed difference might account for some of the variation reported on the protein requirement of the laying hen. The fact that different strains vary in their protein requirement was confirmed in a report by Moreng et al. (1964). Results from a more recent study (Sharpe and Morris, 1965) indicated that 12.5 percent protein was adequate for Rhode Island Red X Light Sussex pullets but was inadequate for White Leghorn hybrid pullets. The hybrids required 16.5 percent protein for maximum production. The experiment reported herein was conducted to obtain more information concerning the response of six breeds or strains of pullets to various levels of protein.
273
STRAIN-PROTEIN INTERRELATIONSHIP T A B I E 1.—Composition of diets Diet Ingredients 1
2
3
4
(%) Yellow corn Soybean meal (50% protein) Alfalfa meal (17% protein) Animal fat Ground limestone Defluorinated phosphate (34% C a + 1 8 % P) Iodized salt Micro-ingredients1
75.07 11.28 3.00 1.85 5.60 2.30 0.40 0.50
69.21 16.34 3.00 2.72 5.67 2.16 0.40 0.50
63.35 21.40 3.00 3.59 5.73 2.03 0.40 0.50
11.0 0.334
13.0 0.392
15.0 0.451
17.0 0.510
1 Supplies per kg. of diet: 4,400 I.U. vitamin A, 1,540 I.C.U. vitamin D 3 , 13.2 meg. vitamin B12, 4.4 mg. riboflavin, 8.8 mg. calcium pantothenate, 13.2 mg. niacin, 500 mg. choline CI, 5.5 I.U. vitamin E, 0.22 mg. Mn SO4 and 1.1 mg. menadione sodium bisulfite.
ues according to Titus (1955). Kjeldahl determinations were also made and the protein values were found to agree closely with calculated values. Daily egg production records were kept on each pullet throughout the 280-day experiment which began in November and terminated in July. Rate of egg production is reported on a hen-day basis. One egg was weighed from each hen at the end of each 28-day period and the average of these weights are reported. Each bird was weighed at the beginning of the experiment and again at the end of the third, sixth and tenth 28-day period, however, only weight gains for the entire experiment are reported. Statements of probability in this paper are based on the analysis of variance according to Snedecor (1956) with significant differences between treatment means determined by Duncan's multiple range test (1955). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Egg pullets served would quired
Production. A significant strain of X protein level interaction was ob(Table 2) for egg production. This indicate that level of protein refor maximum egg production
differed for the six strains of pullets used in this experiment. A large portion of this significant interaction was due to the fact that egg production from New Hampshire pullets was not significantly lowered when they were fed 11% protein, whereas, production was significantly reduced when this level of protein was fed to the egg production type pullets. The fact that egg production type require more protein than heavier birds would agree with the report of Sharpe and Morris (1965). Egg production was lowered each time the level of protein was decreased with the K 137 and 934 C strains. This was a significant reduction at the 13% protein level for the K 137 and approached significance with the 934 C. Increasing the level of protein from 15 to 17 percent resulted in a slight decrease in egg production for K 155 and 934 H strains. However, lowering the level of protein to 13 percent did not lower performance. This would indicate that K 155 and 934 H strains have a lower protein requirement than does the K 137 and 934 C. However, the Cornell Random bred pullets appear to require more protein than either of these. Feed Efficiency. There was a general
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
% Protein % Methionine+cystine
80.97 6.23 3.00 1.00 S.S1 2.39 0.40 0.50
274
R. H. HARMS, B. L. DAMRON AND P. W. WALDROUP TABLE 2.- -Rate of egg production, feed per dozen eggs, body weight and egg weights from six
strains of pullets fed four levels of protein Dietary protein
% 17
Strain of pullets
57,6»bcds
674" 169d 125de 133d» 145d 181d 237.8"
NH K155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
52.3 ef 71.5>» 67.4*b 70.8»b 73.5» 65.4b° 67.6*
2.10 b 1.54" 1.64's 1.55 hi 1.47' 1.85° 1.69"
477b 15=' 108d= 68d=' 293" 168.3'
56.6=d=' 57.8'
NH K 155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
46.1' 68.3<* 65.6 bo 67.4»b 70.1 a b 59.9°d 62.9^
2.52" 1.66«'« 1.60<* 1.54hi 1.81=d 1.805-
364= -45' -40' -30' -60' 109d= 49.7J-
55.8=')* 58.2*b= 57. 2 bode 55.7='«h 57. OWe' 56.2d='e 56.75-
NH K 155 K137 934 C 934 H Random
47.7' 57.5d» 51.4=' 57.8<»e 56.8d= 48.7' 53.3»
2.49" 1.80«i 2.01 b 1.73d" 1.80rf 2.10 b 1.99*
333" -287« -222* -256^ -247" -243<= -153.7"
55.5'"* 53.9« hi 56.0='<* 53.6*" 54.9*' 54.1<*' 54.7'
!
6 9 def
4 Qdef
58.7»b 59.1» 58.8* b 58.3»b= 56.6=d=' 58.2' 56.6=d=' 57_9abod
58.9»b 59.3» 57 gabcde
* Means which do not have the same superscript are significantly different according to Duncan's multiple range test (1955).
trend for less feed to be required to produce a dozen eggs with the higher rates of production (Table 2). Although the strain of pullet X protein level interaction was not significant there were some definite trends which should be noted. Feed efficiency of New Hampshires did not appear to be influenced by protein level. However, it increased with each decrease in protein with the egg production type pullets. This again indicates that the heavier birds had the lower protein requirement. Body Weight Gain. The interaction of strain of pullet X protein level was significant for body weight gain (Table 2). This was due largely to the fact that the New Hampshire and K 155 pullets gained significantly and the gain for the 934 H ap-
proached significance when the protein level was increased from 15 to 17 percent. A portion of this difference may be attributed to a difference in rate of egg production, but might be a result of these two strains having a lower protein requirement since excess protein has been reported to result in greater weight gains (Harms et al., 1962). It should also be pointed out that although all of the egg production-type pullets lost weight when fed the 11 percent protein diet the New Hampshire pullets gained 333 grams. This also contributed greatly to the significant interaction. Egg Weight. The interaction of strain of pullet X protein level was not statistically significant, however, there were some
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
Average
Egg weights* (gms.)
2.44" 1.74*> 1.53 hi 1.49' 1.49' 1.60s* 1.71*
Average 11
Body weight gain* (gms.)
50.7=' 65.4b= 7l.3» b 72.6 a 70.7»b 71.7 ab 67.1'
Average 13
Kg.feed/ dozen eggs
NH K 155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
Average IS
Egg production* percent (hen-day)
STRAIN-PROTEIN INTERRELATIONSHIP
feeding a lower energy diet. The lowered weights in their experiment was probably largely due to a reduction of protein intake rather than an energy restriction. SUMMARY A 280-day laying hen experiment was conducted to determine the influence of strain on protein requirement. Measurements obtained were rate of egg production, feed per dozen eggs, body weight gain and egg weight. These data indicate that a large difference exists between the protein requirement of New Hampshire and egg production type pullets. Also there appears to be considerable variation between the egg production strains. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This investigation was supported in part by a grant-in-aid from Monsanto Chemical Company, St. Louis, Missouri. REFERENCES Duncan, D. B., 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics, 11: 1-42. Harms, R. H., C. R. Douglas and P. W. Waldroup, 1962. Methionine supplementation of laying hen diets. Poultry Sci. 4 1 : 805-812. Harms, R. H., and P. W. Waldroup, 1962. Strain differences in the protein requirement of laying hens. Poultry Sci. 4 1 : 1985-1987. Moreng, R. E., H. L. Enos, W. A. Whittet and B. F. Miller, 1964. An analysis of strain response to dietary protein levels. Poultry Sci. 43: 630-638. Sharpe, E., and T. R. Morris, 1965. The protein requirement of two strains of laying pullets. British Poultry Sci. 6: 7-13. Singsen, E. P., L. D. Matterson, J. Tlustohowicz and L. M. Potter, 1959. The effect of controlled feeding, energy intake, and type of diet on the performance of heavy-type laying hens. Storrs (Connecticut) Agri. Exp. Sta. Bull. 346. Snedecor, G. W., 1956. Statistical Methods, Sth edition, The Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa. Titus, H. W., 1955. The Scientific Feeding of Chickens. The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Danville, Illinois.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
definite trends. Eggs from the K 137 and 934 C pullets were significantly heavier when they received the 15 percent protein diet as compared to those receiving 13 percent. However, it was necessary to lower the level of protein to 11 percent before a significant reduction in egg weight was observed with the other strains. General. These data would indicate that the protein requirement varies with breed and strain of pullet. It would appear that the Cornell Random bred has the highest requirement, the K 137 and 934 C having the next highest, followed by K 155 and 934 H and the New Hampshire having the lowest requirement. When establishing a protein requirement of laying hens the following factors should be considered; egg production, feed efficiency, body weight gain and egg weights. From these data it would appear that egg production, feed efficiency and egg weights give essentially the same indication. However, egg weights may be a more sensitive criteria of measurements, since significant differences were noted as measured by egg weight and the difference in production was not significant. It becomes apparent that an excess of protein results in the pullet gaining more weight. This should be taken into consideration, however, the ideal body weight has not been established for each breed or strain. The fact that the New Hampshire pullet performed remarkably well on the lower levels of protein (11 and 13%) would indicate that many breeder diets contain more protein than is desirable. This is probably resulting in heavier birds which may be a disadvantage. These data would help to explain the results of Singsen et al. (1959) who reported that a 70 percent restriction of a 17 percent protein high energy diet resulted in lowered body weights and lowered body weight could not be accomplished by
275
T
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Four major strains of commercial egg production type day-old chicks were purchased from commercial hatcheries. Two of these were of Kimber breeding (K 137 and K 155) and the other two were Hylines 1 Florida Agr. Exp. Sta. lournal Series No. 2187.
(934 C and 934 H). A group of New Hampshire chicks was also purchased at the same time. A sixth group consisted of Cornell Random Bred chicks which were hatched at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. All chicks were reared under identical management and nutritional level in the same pen. For the first eight weeks they were fed a starter diet containing 22 percent protein and 2079 kilocalories of productive energy per kilogram. At the end of this time the protein level was reduced to 16 percent. This feed was given until 23 weeks of age at which time the pullets were housed in individual laying cages and fed a layer diet containing 17 percent protein. At one day of age the chicks were wingbanded, dubbed, debeaked and vaccinated intraocularly for bronchitis and Newcastle disease. Fowl pox vaccination was given at four weeks of age and bronchitis and Newcastle vaccination was repeated at eight and 22 weeks of age. At 27 weeks of age six groups of five individually caged pullets from each breed or strain were placed on each of the experimental diets shown in Table 1. These diets contained 17, 15, 13 and 11 percent protein which was accomplished by varying the corn and soybean meal content. These diets were maintained isocaloric (2156 kilocalories of productive energy per kilogram) by varying the level of animal fat. Adjustments were also made in the amount of ground limestone and defluorinated phosphate in order to keep the calcium and phosphorus content constant. Changes in formulation were made on the basis of val-
272
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
HE protein requirement of the laying hen has been reported to be as high as 17 percent or as low as 11 percent. A review of the literature concerning the protein requirement of the laying hen was made by Harms et al. (1962) in a paper in which they reported that the energy content of the diet and season of the year would influence this requirement. It was later reported, by Harms and Waldroup (1962), that some strains have a higher protein requirement than others and that strain or breed difference might account for some of the variation reported on the protein requirement of the laying hen. The fact that different strains vary in their protein requirement was confirmed in a report by Moreng et al. (1964). Results from a more recent study (Sharpe and Morris, 1965) indicated that 12.5 percent protein was adequate for Rhode Island Red X Light Sussex pullets but was inadequate for White Leghorn hybrid pullets. The hybrids required 16.5 percent protein for maximum production. The experiment reported herein was conducted to obtain more information concerning the response of six breeds or strains of pullets to various levels of protein.
273
STRAIN-PROTEIN INTERRELATIONSHIP T A B I E 1.—Composition of diets Diet Ingredients 1
2
3
4
(%) Yellow corn Soybean meal (50% protein) Alfalfa meal (17% protein) Animal fat Ground limestone Defluorinated phosphate (34% C a + 1 8 % P) Iodized salt Micro-ingredients1
75.07 11.28 3.00 1.85 5.60 2.30 0.40 0.50
69.21 16.34 3.00 2.72 5.67 2.16 0.40 0.50
63.35 21.40 3.00 3.59 5.73 2.03 0.40 0.50
11.0 0.334
13.0 0.392
15.0 0.451
17.0 0.510
1 Supplies per kg. of diet: 4,400 I.U. vitamin A, 1,540 I.C.U. vitamin D 3 , 13.2 meg. vitamin B12, 4.4 mg. riboflavin, 8.8 mg. calcium pantothenate, 13.2 mg. niacin, 500 mg. choline CI, 5.5 I.U. vitamin E, 0.22 mg. Mn SO4 and 1.1 mg. menadione sodium bisulfite.
ues according to Titus (1955). Kjeldahl determinations were also made and the protein values were found to agree closely with calculated values. Daily egg production records were kept on each pullet throughout the 280-day experiment which began in November and terminated in July. Rate of egg production is reported on a hen-day basis. One egg was weighed from each hen at the end of each 28-day period and the average of these weights are reported. Each bird was weighed at the beginning of the experiment and again at the end of the third, sixth and tenth 28-day period, however, only weight gains for the entire experiment are reported. Statements of probability in this paper are based on the analysis of variance according to Snedecor (1956) with significant differences between treatment means determined by Duncan's multiple range test (1955). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Egg pullets served would quired
Production. A significant strain of X protein level interaction was ob(Table 2) for egg production. This indicate that level of protein refor maximum egg production
differed for the six strains of pullets used in this experiment. A large portion of this significant interaction was due to the fact that egg production from New Hampshire pullets was not significantly lowered when they were fed 11% protein, whereas, production was significantly reduced when this level of protein was fed to the egg production type pullets. The fact that egg production type require more protein than heavier birds would agree with the report of Sharpe and Morris (1965). Egg production was lowered each time the level of protein was decreased with the K 137 and 934 C strains. This was a significant reduction at the 13% protein level for the K 137 and approached significance with the 934 C. Increasing the level of protein from 15 to 17 percent resulted in a slight decrease in egg production for K 155 and 934 H strains. However, lowering the level of protein to 13 percent did not lower performance. This would indicate that K 155 and 934 H strains have a lower protein requirement than does the K 137 and 934 C. However, the Cornell Random bred pullets appear to require more protein than either of these. Feed Efficiency. There was a general
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
% Protein % Methionine+cystine
80.97 6.23 3.00 1.00 S.S1 2.39 0.40 0.50
274
R. H. HARMS, B. L. DAMRON AND P. W. WALDROUP TABLE 2.- -Rate of egg production, feed per dozen eggs, body weight and egg weights from six
strains of pullets fed four levels of protein Dietary protein
% 17
Strain of pullets
57,6»bcds
674" 169d 125de 133d» 145d 181d 237.8"
NH K155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
52.3 ef 71.5>» 67.4*b 70.8»b 73.5» 65.4b° 67.6*
2.10 b 1.54" 1.64's 1.55 hi 1.47' 1.85° 1.69"
477b 15=' 108d= 68d=' 293" 168.3'
56.6=d=' 57.8'
NH K 155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
46.1' 68.3<* 65.6 bo 67.4»b 70.1 a b 59.9°d 62.9^
2.52" 1.66«'« 1.60<* 1.54hi 1.81=d 1.805-
364= -45' -40' -30' -60' 109d= 49.7J-
55.8=')* 58.2*b= 57. 2 bode 55.7='«h 57. OWe' 56.2d='e 56.75-
NH K 155 K137 934 C 934 H Random
47.7' 57.5d» 51.4=' 57.8<»e 56.8d= 48.7' 53.3»
2.49" 1.80«i 2.01 b 1.73d" 1.80rf 2.10 b 1.99*
333" -287« -222* -256^ -247" -243<= -153.7"
55.5'"* 53.9« hi 56.0='<* 53.6*" 54.9*' 54.1<*' 54.7'
!
6 9 def
4 Qdef
58.7»b 59.1» 58.8* b 58.3»b= 56.6=d=' 58.2' 56.6=d=' 57_9abod
58.9»b 59.3» 57 gabcde
* Means which do not have the same superscript are significantly different according to Duncan's multiple range test (1955).
trend for less feed to be required to produce a dozen eggs with the higher rates of production (Table 2). Although the strain of pullet X protein level interaction was not significant there were some definite trends which should be noted. Feed efficiency of New Hampshires did not appear to be influenced by protein level. However, it increased with each decrease in protein with the egg production type pullets. This again indicates that the heavier birds had the lower protein requirement. Body Weight Gain. The interaction of strain of pullet X protein level was significant for body weight gain (Table 2). This was due largely to the fact that the New Hampshire and K 155 pullets gained significantly and the gain for the 934 H ap-
proached significance when the protein level was increased from 15 to 17 percent. A portion of this difference may be attributed to a difference in rate of egg production, but might be a result of these two strains having a lower protein requirement since excess protein has been reported to result in greater weight gains (Harms et al., 1962). It should also be pointed out that although all of the egg production-type pullets lost weight when fed the 11 percent protein diet the New Hampshire pullets gained 333 grams. This also contributed greatly to the significant interaction. Egg Weight. The interaction of strain of pullet X protein level was not statistically significant, however, there were some
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
Average
Egg weights* (gms.)
2.44" 1.74*> 1.53 hi 1.49' 1.49' 1.60s* 1.71*
Average 11
Body weight gain* (gms.)
50.7=' 65.4b= 7l.3» b 72.6 a 70.7»b 71.7 ab 67.1'
Average 13
Kg.feed/ dozen eggs
NH K 155 K 137 934 C 934 H Random
Average IS
Egg production* percent (hen-day)
STRAIN-PROTEIN INTERRELATIONSHIP
feeding a lower energy diet. The lowered weights in their experiment was probably largely due to a reduction of protein intake rather than an energy restriction. SUMMARY A 280-day laying hen experiment was conducted to determine the influence of strain on protein requirement. Measurements obtained were rate of egg production, feed per dozen eggs, body weight gain and egg weight. These data indicate that a large difference exists between the protein requirement of New Hampshire and egg production type pullets. Also there appears to be considerable variation between the egg production strains. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This investigation was supported in part by a grant-in-aid from Monsanto Chemical Company, St. Louis, Missouri. REFERENCES Duncan, D. B., 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics, 11: 1-42. Harms, R. H., C. R. Douglas and P. W. Waldroup, 1962. Methionine supplementation of laying hen diets. Poultry Sci. 4 1 : 805-812. Harms, R. H., and P. W. Waldroup, 1962. Strain differences in the protein requirement of laying hens. Poultry Sci. 4 1 : 1985-1987. Moreng, R. E., H. L. Enos, W. A. Whittet and B. F. Miller, 1964. An analysis of strain response to dietary protein levels. Poultry Sci. 43: 630-638. Sharpe, E., and T. R. Morris, 1965. The protein requirement of two strains of laying pullets. British Poultry Sci. 6: 7-13. Singsen, E. P., L. D. Matterson, J. Tlustohowicz and L. M. Potter, 1959. The effect of controlled feeding, energy intake, and type of diet on the performance of heavy-type laying hens. Storrs (Connecticut) Agri. Exp. Sta. Bull. 346. Snedecor, G. W., 1956. Statistical Methods, Sth edition, The Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa. Titus, H. W., 1955. The Scientific Feeding of Chickens. The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Danville, Illinois.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on June 18, 2015
definite trends. Eggs from the K 137 and 934 C pullets were significantly heavier when they received the 15 percent protein diet as compared to those receiving 13 percent. However, it was necessary to lower the level of protein to 11 percent before a significant reduction in egg weight was observed with the other strains. General. These data would indicate that the protein requirement varies with breed and strain of pullet. It would appear that the Cornell Random bred has the highest requirement, the K 137 and 934 C having the next highest, followed by K 155 and 934 H and the New Hampshire having the lowest requirement. When establishing a protein requirement of laying hens the following factors should be considered; egg production, feed efficiency, body weight gain and egg weights. From these data it would appear that egg production, feed efficiency and egg weights give essentially the same indication. However, egg weights may be a more sensitive criteria of measurements, since significant differences were noted as measured by egg weight and the difference in production was not significant. It becomes apparent that an excess of protein results in the pullet gaining more weight. This should be taken into consideration, however, the ideal body weight has not been established for each breed or strain. The fact that the New Hampshire pullet performed remarkably well on the lower levels of protein (11 and 13%) would indicate that many breeder diets contain more protein than is desirable. This is probably resulting in heavier birds which may be a disadvantage. These data would help to explain the results of Singsen et al. (1959) who reported that a 70 percent restriction of a 17 percent protein high energy diet resulted in lowered body weights and lowered body weight could not be accomplished by
275