Bioavailability of methionine hydroxy analog‐free acid relative to DL‐methionine in broilers

Three experiments were conducted to determine and validate the relative bioefficacy of the liquid form of hydroxy analog (liquid MHA‐FA) to that of DL‐methionine (Met) in male broilers. In experiments 1 and 2, 945 and 550 male broilers were fed either a Met‐deficient basal diet, or the basal diet supplemented with four and five equimolar levels of each Met source, respectively. In experiment 3, 1232 male broilers were fed either a Met‐deficient basal diet, or the basal diet with three levels (low, moderate, or high) of liquid MHA‐FA or DL‐Met at 65% of the liquid MHA‐FA level. Growth performance improved in all trials, regardless of the Met source, relative to those broilers fed the basal diet. In experiments 1 and 2, the bioefficacy estimates for liquid MHA‐FA relative to DL‐Met on a product basis were: 50% and 64% for weight gain, 51% and 59% for the feed conversion ratio, and 54% and 48% for breast‐meat yield, respectively. In experiment 3, there were no differences between the DL‐Met or liquid MHA‐FA treatments, and the broilers fed liquid MHA‐FA were 68% as efficient on a product basis as those fed DL‐methionine for weight gain. The results from these three trials indicate that the bioefficacy of liquid MHA‐FA relative to DL‐methionine is 57% on a product basis on average across all criteria tested.