Effects of Supplemental Methionine Levels on Egg Production and Egg Quality Characteristics of Laying Hens

This study evaluated the effects of dietary methionine supplementation on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production, and egg quality of laying hens. A total of 180 Isa Brown hens aged 24 weeks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments containing 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5% supplemental methionine (T1–T5), with two replicates of 18 birds per treatment, in a completely randomized design. The 12-week experiment was conducted in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria, with feed and water provided ad libitum. Data were analysed using analysis of variance and Duncan’s multiple range test at the 5% probability level. Feed intake ranged from 88.26–96.14 g/bird/day, feed conversion ratio from 1.17–1.31, hen-day egg production from 74.42–78.28%, mean egg production from 12.90–13.68, and dozen egg production from 1.28–1.37. Methionine level had no significant effect (p > .05) on production parameters or most egg quality traits. Albumen height was significantly affected (p < .05), with the highest value in T1 (8.44 mm). Egg weight, egg dimensions, and shell weight were not significantly affected. Increasing supplemental methionine from 0.1 to 0.5% therefore did not significantly improve most measured traits, while 0.1% maintained performance comparable with higher levels.