Abstract
1. Tryptophan (Trp), besides its role as an essential amino acid in protein synthesis, may also have other important effects on laying hens under summer conditions.
2. Babcock Brown layers (n = 768), 40 weeks of age, were allocated to 4 treatment groups, each of which included 6 replicates of 32 hens. Each group received the same basal diet, formulated with maize and soybean meal, for 8 weeks. Hens were fed on the basal diet with 0·0, 0·2, 0·4, and 0·8 g/kg L-Trp to achieve dietary concentrations of 1·7, 1·9 g/kg, 2·1 g/kg or 2·5 g/kg of Trp, respectively.
3. Supplementing L-Trp had no affect on laying performance. Adding 0·2 or 0·4 g/kg L-Trp improved egg shell strength compared with those fed on the control diet. Serum albumin concentration increased at 0·4 g/kg compared with those receiving 0·0 or 0·8 g/kg Trp. The addition of Trp at 0·4 g/kg increased serum IgM concentration quadratically. Serum superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) increased linearly and quadratically at 0·4 g/kg.
4. In conclusion, we suggest that 0·2 to 0·4 g/kg Trp may have beneficial effects on laying hens under conditions of high temperature and humidity.