Lysine, Arginine and Methionine Balance of Diets for Turkeys to 24 Weeks of Age

Abstract

THE National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Poultry (1960) states that the lysine requirement of the poult in the starting period is 1.5% of the diet; that of arginine 1.6% and that of methionine 0.52%. No recommendations are set for the concentrations of these amino acids in the diet beyond the age of 8 weeks. However, the studies of Almquist (1949), Grau and Kamei (1950) and, more recently, the work of Nelson et al. (1960) all show that the needs of poultry for specific amino acids, when expressed as percentages of the dietary protein, tend to remain constant.Almquist (1952), Balloun and Phillips (1957) and Waibel (1959) have adequately reviewed the work with lysine and methionine supplementation of rations for turkey poults. Waibel’s work indicates that increasing dietary protein from 28 to 32 percent was not effective in producing faster growth in either Broad Breasted Bronze or White turkey poults …