Requirement of Digestible Sulfur Amino Acids in Laying Hens Fed Sorghum- and Soybean Meal-Based Diets

Two experiments were done to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of dietary digestible methionine (Met) and Met: cysteine (Met: Cys) ratio on the productivity of Hy-Line W-36 laying hens fed sorghum-and soybean meal-based diets. In Exp. 1, 160 hens from 68 to 75 weeks of age were assigned to four dietary levels of digestible Met (0.20 0.24, 0.28 and 0.32%). The digestible total sulfur amino acids: Lysine (TSAA: Lys) ratios were: 62, 68, 76 and 84%. In Exp. 2, 192 hens from 76-83 weeks of age were assigned to four dietary digestible Met: Cys ratios (160, 116.7, 85.7 and 62.5%). The digestible TSAA: Lys ratio was kept constant across diets (80%). Results were subjected to ANOVA and linear regression analyses. In Exp. 1, optimal egg production, egg mass, and feed efficiency responses were observed at 0.30 and 0.50% of dietary digestible Met and TSAA, respectively (quadratic effect, p< 0.05). Live performance was maximized with digestible Met and TSAA in takes of 288 and 478 mg/hen/d, respectively. In Exp. 2, optimal egg production and feed efficiency responses were observed at 151 and 150% of dietary digestible Met: Cys ratios, respectively (quadratic effect, p< 0.05). The digestible Met, Cys and TSAA intake to maximize egg production and feed efficiency were 313, 207 and 510 mg/hen/d, respectively. The requirements for sulfur AA in Hy-Line W-36 hens from 68 to 83 weeks of age fed sorghum-and soybean meal-based diets fell inside the range of the requirements previously estimated in hens fed corn-soybean meal based diets.