Effect of Supplementary Methionine on Feather Growth and Related Indicators of Pigeon Squabs

Y Wang,J Meng,Z Guo,H Yang,Z Yang,Z Wang,X Chen

doi:10.1590/1806-9061-2021-1468

Abstract

ABSTRACT We assessed the effect of health sand dietary supplementation with methionine (Met) on White King pigeons. Paired pigeons (n = 180) were fed one of five diets; group T1 received no added Met, while T2, T3, T4 and T5 received 30, 60, 90 and 120 g of supplemental DL-Met/kg, respectively. Each treatment was replicated three times with 24 pairs in each replicate. The results showed that supplementary Met had a minor effect on the length of the fourth primary wing feather in 28-day-old squabs (p>0.05), but the length of 14-day-old squabs in T2 was significantly longer (p=0.010). Dietary Met had a minor effect on Wnt-7a and fibroblast growth factor receptors-2 (FGFR-2) mRNA levels in 28-day-old squabs (p>0.05). The IGF-1 concentration in plasma was highest in T4 and lowest in T2 (p=0.012), but there was no difference between T1, T2 and T5 (p>0.05). In the chest muscle, the expression of IGF-1 in T3 and T4 was higher than in T1 (p=0.172 and 0.015, respectively). In the leg muscle, IGF-1 mRNA level was higher in T4 and T3, and lower in T2 (p>0.05). The results indicate that the optimal Met supplement for increasing fourth primary wing feather length was 30 g/kg Met in health sand, and the feathers were the longest in 14-day-old squabs. Adding 90 g/kg Met to health sand can improve the concentration of IGF-1, which is important for growth performance of pigeon squabs.

Highlights

In recent years, the White King pigeon has been a source of meat and eggs in human diet (Pomianowski et al, 2009)
With increasing supplemental dosage, the fourth primary wing feather of squabs decreased, and T5 had the shortest length (p
Dietary Met had a minor effect on Wnt-7a and fibroblast growth factor receptors-2 (FGFR-2) mRNA levels, which related to the feather growth

Summary

Introduction

The White King pigeon has been a source of meat and eggs in human diet (Pomianowski et al, 2009). Methionine (Met) is considered a major growth-limiting amino acid in poultry (Bunchasak, 2009), and an important nutrient for feather growth and protein synthesis. Met deficiency could impair the growth of broilers (Wu et al, 2012), Met supplemented to the diets positively affected body weight gain, feed conversion and production index of broilers (Koreleski & Świątkiewicz, 2008). Feather growth is important for pigeons because it reflects carcass quality; optimum feathering is crucial in poultry production, and poor feathering results in downgrading of birds at slaughter (Hickling et al, 1900; Zeng et al, 2015). Zeng et al (2015) revealed that dietary Met content can affect the feather growth in Peking duck; the optimal Met requirement for the fourth primary wing feather length was 0.404%. Studies on the optimal dosage of Met for feather growth in pigeons has not been reported

Methods

Results

Conclusion