HERBAL METHIONINE (METHIOREP®) IMPROVES GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS WITHOUT AFFECTING CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND BLOOD INDICES

<p>Methiorep®, an herbal methionine premix, which is reported to contain herbal ingredients that mimic the activity of Methionine such as SAMe (S-Adenosyl Methionine) and phosphatidyl choline, have recently introduced to Nigeria animal feed industry. An experiment was conducted with 120, one-week-old broilers to evaluate the effect of herbal methionine (methiorep®) as substitute for synthetic methionine on growth performance of broiler chickens. Five isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets were formulated and Diet 1 (control), comprised of 0.25% methionine (NRC, 1994) while diet 2, 3, 4 and 5 comprised of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% Methiorep® as substitute for methionine in the diets. The birds were randomly allocated to five experimental treatments, each treatment was replicated three times with eight birds per pen in a completely randomized design. The study lasted 49-days. The results of growth performance revealed that body weight gain, average feed intake and feed conversion ratio at both starter and finisher phases were not  influenced by dietary treatments (P&gt;0.05). However cost per kg feed decreased as the level of Methiorep® increased in the diets (P&lt;0.05). The results of blood profiles and carcass characteristics were not influenced (P&gt;0.05) by the dietary treatments. It was concluded that Methiorep® can completely substitute for Methionine in the diets of broiler chickens without adverse effect on growth performance, blood profiles and carcass yield of birds.</p>