Effects of Amino Acid Supplementation of Low Protein Corn and Grain Sorghum Diets on the Performance of Egg Production Stocks

ACCORDING to Sunde (1962), the amino acids are the important units in proteins. Until we know more about the interrelationships of the various amino acids and their requirements as influenced by their specific combination in proteins we can expect progress to be retarded. As our methods of designing the optimum amino acid mixture improve, increases in performance may be expected. Considerable work has been done but variables such as rate of lay, geographic location, and genotype and environment interactions seem to influence considerably the results obtained by the various investigators working in this field. Johnson and Fisher (1958) by the use of an amino acid free basal diet have reported the minimal essential amino acid requirements of the laying hen. Waibel et al. (1961) reported that by increasing the levels of essential amino acids 25% above those recommended by Johnson and Fisher (1958) they were able to maintain satisfactory body…