Determination of the optimum arginine : lysine ratio in broiler diets

The study was conducted to determine the optimum dietary concentration of arginine relative to lysine on the basis of the performance, carcass traits and blood characteristics of 1-35-day-old broilers using a randomised complete block design. One-day-old broilers (n = 1200) were allocated to five dietary treatment groups receiving different arginine:lysine (Arg:Lys) ratios, where the proportion of Arg was progressively increased by increments of 10%, and the concentration of lysine was kept constant; the final ratios were 0.85, 0.95, 1.05, 1.16 and 1.26. Each diet treatment was composed of eight replicates (4 males and 4 females), with 30 chickens each replicate. All broilers were fed in three phases, namely starter, grower and finisher, at 1-10, 11-24 and 25-35 days of age respectively. An increase in the Arg:Lys ratio in the diet from 0.85 to 1.26 linearly (P < 0.001) increased bodyweight gain by 7% and improved feed conversion ratio by 6%. Feed intake and mortality were not significantly (P > 0.05) different among the treatments. Increasing the Arg:Lys ratio in the diet linearly (P < 0.0001) and quadratically (P < 0.05) improved the carcass yield and relative chilled carcass weight respectively. The percentages of breast meat and creatinine and insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations also linearly (P < 0.0001) increased by 5.5%, 23.0% and 18.0% respectively, with an increasing dietary Arg:Lys ratio. The results of the present study indicated that the highest dietary Arg:Lys ratio (1.26) improved bodyweight gain, feed conversion ratio, breast meat, creatinine and insulin-like growth factor-1. However, the optimum dietary Arg:Lys ratio to improve carcass yield and weight gain in the grower phase (Days 11-24 of age) was at 1.05.