Arginine activity in broiler diets can be supplied by L-arginine (Arg), guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and L-citrulline (Cit), all of which are commercially available. This study was conducted to assess the effects of Arg source and level on broiler performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass parameters. Day-old Ross 308 cockerels (n = 768) were assigned to one of eight dietary treatments using a completely randomized design: normal protein (NP), low protein deficient in Arg (LP) and LP with two levels of either Arg (0.238% and 0.476%), GAA (0.309% and 0.618%) or Cit (0.238 and 0.476%). The LP was 5 percentage points lower in protein level than the NP. Wheat, sorghum, soya bean meal, canola meal, and meat and bone meal-based diets were fed over three feeding phases to 6 replicate floor pens with 16 birds each. Compared to NP, birds fed LP had reduced feed intake (FI, p < 0.001), reduced body weight gain (BWG, p < 0.001) and increased feed conversion ratio (FCR, p < 0.001) from day 0 to day 35. Additions of Arg or Cit to the LP at both levels resulted in increased BWG and reduced FCR (p < 0.05). Birds fed LP with GAA added had lower FCR (p < 0.05) but not higher BWG (p > 0.05) compared with the LP observed from day 0 to day 35. Supplementation of Arg, Cit and the low level of GAA to LP resulted in increased carcass yield, bone length, diameter and ash (p < 0.05) but did not increase ileal energy or nitrogen digestibility (p > 0.05). The findings indicate that Cit is an efficacious source of Arg activity in Arg-deficient diets.

中文翻译：

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肉鸡对低蛋白日粮中不同精氨酸来源的反应

肉鸡日粮中的精氨酸活性可由 L-精氨酸 (Arg)、胍基乙酸 (GAA) 和 L-瓜氨酸 (Cit) 提供，所有这些都是可商购的。本研究旨在评估 Arg 来源和水平对肉鸡生产性能、养分消化率和胴体参数的影响。日龄罗斯 308 公鸡 ( n = 768) 被分配到使用完全随机设计的八种饮食治疗中的一种：正常蛋白质 (NP)、低蛋白质缺乏 Arg (LP) 和 LP 两种水平的 Arg (0.238% 和 0.476%)、GAA (0.309 % 和 0.618%）或 Cit（0.238 和 0.476%）。LP的蛋白质水平比NP低5个百分点。将小麦、高粱、豆粕、菜籽粕和肉骨粉为基础的日粮在三个饲喂阶段分别饲喂到 6 个重复的地板围栏，每个围栏有 16 只鸡。 与 NP 相比，饲喂 LP 的鸡只从第 0 天到第 35 天减少了采食量（FI，p  < 0.001），减少了体重增加（BWG，p  < 0.001）和增加了饲料转化率（FCR，p < 0.001）。 LP 在两个水平上的 Arg 或 Cit 导致 BWG 增加和 FCR 降低（p  < 0.05)。与从第 0 天到第 35 天观察到的 LP 相比，饲喂添加 GAA 的 LP 的鸡的 FCR 较低 ( p  < 0.05) 但没有较高的 BWG ( p  > 0.05)。补充 Arg、Cit 和低水平的 GAA 到 LP 导致增加胴体产量、骨长、直径和灰分 ( p  < 0.05)，但没有增加回肠能量或氮消化率 ( p  > 0.05)。研究结果表明，Cit 是 Arg 缺乏饮食中 Arg 活性的有效来源。