Effects of dietary L-arginine on laying performance and anti-oxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring during the late laying period

The effects of maternal L-arginine supplementation on laying performance and the antioxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, egg yolk, and their one-day-old offspring were investigated. In a 9 wk experiment, 210 60-week-old Arbor Acres healthy female broiler breeders were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 7 females and fed a corn and soybean meal diet with 5 arginine levels (0.96%, 1.16%, 1.36%, 1.56%, and 1.76% digestible arginine). Laying performance and anti-oxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring were evaluated. Digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet had a significant effect on the laying rate (linear and quadratic effect, P < 0.0001). The highest laying rate was obtained when the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. There was a significant effect of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) concentration in the broiler breeder serum, egg yolk and serum, and liver and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P < 0.05). The T-AOC level was highest and the MDA concentration lowest in all tissues when a diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. No difference in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity in the broiler breeder serum was observed. There were significant effects of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the GSH-PX activity of the egg yolk (linear effect, P < 0.01; quadratic effect, P < 0.05) and serum, liver, and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P <= 0.01). The GSH-PX activity in all tissues measured in this experiment was highest when the dietary digestible arginine was 1.36%. These results indicate that the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine (1,972 mg/d) is optimal to satisfy the nutritional needs of a female broiler breeder during the late laying period.