Effects of different dietary lysine levels on growth performance, serum biochemical indices and protein deposition of lion head geese aged from 1 to 21 days

【Objective】 This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different dietary lysine levels on growth performance, serum biochemical indices and protein deposition of lion head geese aged from 1 to 21 days.【Method】 Eight hundred and twenty-eight one-day-old healthy lion head geese were randomly divided into 6 groups with 6 replicates per group and 23 geese in each replicate. Geese in control group were fed diets containing 0.75% lysine. Five treatment groups were fed diets containing 0.90%, 1.05%, 1.20%, 1.35%, 1.50% lysine, respectively. The experiment lasted for 21 days.【Result and conclusion】 These results showed that 1) With the increase of dietary lysine level, average daily gains of 21-day lion head geese in 1.05%~1.50% groups were significantly higher than those of control and 0.90% groups (P<0.05) whereas feed/gain ratio decreased compared to control and 0.90% groups (P<0.05); 2) The highest levels of total protein, albumin and globulin in lion head geese were observed in 1.20% group, which were higher than those of 0.90%, 1.05% and 1.35% groups (P<0.05). No significant difference of serum urea and triglyceride was observed in all groups, but these two indicated the lowest values in 1.05% group. Serum alkaline phosphatase in 1.20% group with the highest value was remarkably higher than those of 1.05%, 1.35% and 1.50% groups (P<0.05). There were no significant difference of serum growth horrnone and insulin growth factor-1 in all groups; 3) The absolute and relative protein depositions of lion head geese increased with the rise of dietary lysine level and resulted in a better performance in 1.20% group. In conclusion, dietary lysine supplementation can improve the growth performance of lion head geese aged from 1 to 21 days at the 1.05% optimum lysine level.