Choline supplementation in the diets of aged White Leghorn hens grouped according to body weight.
A randomized block design experiment was conducted to determine if aged layers require supplemental choline when fed practical corn-soy diets adequate in methionine. Hisex hens (50 weeks old) were divided into four body weight groups containing 120 hens each. Six experimental treatments were prepared by addition of choline to a corn-soy basal diet at 0, 55, 110, 220, 440, and 880 mg/kg of diet. Each diet was fed to four replicates of 5 hens each within each body weight group. The nutrient content in the basal diet formulated for each body weight group was adjusted depending on daily feed intake. The experiment was conducted for four 28-day periods (January 21 to May 13). Hen-day egg production, feed conversion, egg specific gravity, and egg weight did not differ significantly for any level of choline supplementation. Liver lipid content was significantly different at no supplemental choline in extra heavy birds. Results of this experiment support the conclusion that, regardless of body weight, aged laying hens required very little, if any, supplemental choline when they are fed a corn-soy practical diet containing adequate methionine.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D002794:Choline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D010058:Oviposition
D002794:Choline