Search

The experiment aimed to investigate the effect of dietary methionine levels on the growth and development of Yanjin silky fowl chickens aged 1 to 42 days. A total of 200 one-day-old healthy Yanjin silky fowl chickens with similar body weights were randomly divided into five groups, with five replicates per group and eight chickens per replicate, including both males and females. Each group was fed experimental diets with methionine levels of 0.32%, 0.41%, 0.50%, 0.59%, and 0.68%. The trial period was 42 days. The results showed that there were significant differences in the body weight of chicks from 7 to 28 days old among the groups, with the 0.41% and 0.50% groups had higher body weights, and the weight gain in the 0.41% group was significantly higher than that of the 0.50% and 0.59% groups in the sixth week (P<0.05). The dietary methionine levels significantly affected the body slanting length, breast width, breast depth, keel length, tibial circumference, and pelvic width of chicks at 7 days old, as well as the body slanting length, breast width, breast depth at 42 days old, and tibial length from 14 to 42 days old. At 42 days old, the breast width of the 0.41% group was significantly higher than that of the 0.32% group (P<0.05), and the tibial length was significantly higher than that of the 0.32%, 0.59%, and 0.68% groups (P<0.05). At 42 days old, the lengths of the ileum, rectum, and total intestine, as well as the indices of the ileocecal, muscular gastrulae, cardiac, hepatic, and splenic of the chicks, showed significant differences among the groups. The length of rectum was significantly higher in the 0.41% group than that of the other groups (P<0.05). The dietary methionine levels significantly affected the length of the parafoil feathers at 28 and 35 days old, and the number of primary wing feathers at 7, 21, and 35 days old. The study indicates that when the dietary methionine level is 0.41%, the growth and development of Yanjin silky fowl chickens from 1 to 42 days old is better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]