Lysine is the most essential amino acid needed by animals. In particular, growing animals have a high demand for lysine. The faster the animal growth rate, the greater the growth intensity, the more lysine is needed, so lysine is also called “growth amino acid”.
Do all animals need lysine?
Monogastric animals (pigs, dogs, cats and chickens) generally can not synthesize lysine on their own, and the content of lysine is low in most common feed materials for livestock and poultry, which is artificially added as the main source of lysine for animals. Lysine is the first limiting amino acid of pigs or the second limiting amino acid of chickens. Together with threonine, lysine is the most restricted amino acid in horse feed, and it is also one of the most important limiting amino acids in lactating dairy cows. It is also added to the feed of birds and fish. Lysine is needed in almost all animal feed.
Natural sources of lysine
The content of lysine in cereal feed is low, and the content of lysine in cottonseed cake (meal rapeseed cake, peanut cake, flax cake, sunflower cake, sesame cake and other miscellaneous meal) is not high, and the content of lysine in fish meal and soybean meal is relatively high. therefore, industrial lysine should be added to most formula feed, so that the amino acid balance can be achieved, and the crude protein content of feed can be reduced by 1% and 2%.
The functions of Lysine in Animals
1 is used to synthesize body proteins and is widely found in brain nerves, germ cells, nuclear proteins and hemoglobin.
2 to enhance the appetite of livestock and poultry and promote the secretion of digestive enzymes.
3 promote the absorption of calcium, transport calcium in the cell, and there is enough lysine in the diet to form calcium-binding protein.
4 improve the disease resistance and stress resistance of livestock and poultry.
5 improve carcass quality and lean percentage.
6 promote the growth performance and muscle development of birds.
8 Lysine can be used against virus and herpes.
9 increase muscle weight, reduce nitrogen emissions in feces and urine, and be environmentally friendly.
10 promote milk yield and improve milk quality, which is beneficial to the health of dairy cows
