An Estimate of the Methionine Requirement for Egg Production

INGRAM et al. (1951) using four hens per treatment showed that methionine is required for egg production, but made no mention of the effect of a methionine deficiency on egg size. They concluded that the methionine requirement of the laying hen was not more than 0.38 percent in the presence of 0.25 percent cystine. The experiment they described was conducted for a period of eight weeks. The experiment reported in this paper was conducted with an initial number of 60 hens per treatment and for a period of 24 weeks. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Single Comb White Leghorn pullets hatched in August, 1949, were randomly distributed at maturity into ten groups of 30 each. The hens were housed in pens 8×17 feet with litter floor. At the time the experiment was started in February, 1950, the pullets were laying at a rate of approximately 60 percent. The composition of the experimental diets . . .