Effect of dietary protein level and monensin on performance of chicks

Four experiments were conducted to investigate a possible interaction between dietary protein level and monensin on growth performance of young chicks. Crossbred chicks (New Hampshire X Columbian) or commercial broiler chicks (Hubbard X Hubbard) were fed corn-soybean meal diets containing various protein levels with or without added monensin (160 or 121 mg/kg). Monensin had little or no effect on growth performance of crossbred chicks fed diets containing 24 or 20% protein. However, growth performance of chicks fed 16% protein diets was depressed 15 and 8% by 160 and 121 mg/kg monensin, respectively. With commercial broiler chicks a marked interaction was observed between dietary protein level and monensin. As dietary protein level decreased, the depression in performance from monensin increased. At 24.0, 21.5, 19.0, and 16.5% protein, weight gains at 4 weeks of age were depressed 20, 29, 35, and 45% by 160 mg/kg monensin and 7, 14, 19, and 28% by 121 mg/kg monensin, respectively. Linear regression analysis indicated that 121 mg/kg monensin depressed growth rate an additional 2.7% for each 1% reduction in dietary protein level. A large portion of the growth depression from monensin could be explained by reduced feed intake. The results of this study indicate that level of dietary protein has a profound effect on the magnitude of growth depression caused by addition of monensin to chick diets. Thus, deficient levels of dietary protein should be avoided when using this anticoccidial drug in broiler feeds.