The effect of dietary inclusions of guanidinoacetic acid on D1-42 broiler performance and processing yields

Creatine is a central constituent in energy metabolism, especially in cells with variable energy demand, such as muscle cells. Animal proteins such as fish meal, poultry meal, and meat meal may provide adequate amounts of creatine when included in diet formulation. Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an immediate precursor of creatine and should be considered for use in animal nutrition. An experiment was conducted to describe broiler performance and carcass yield effects when GAA was provided to broilers consuming diets containing either animal protein or nonanimal protein. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial varying in basal ingredients (conventional [CON] or nonanimal protein [NAP]) and GAA inclusion (0 or 0.06%), provided as CreAmino, in a randomized complete block design. Treatments were applied to 12 replicate pens of 36 Hubbard × Cobb 500 straight-run broilers from hatch through d 42. Overall (d1-42) results indicate 0.019 FCR improvement when GAA was included to broiler diets (P = 0.0024). Similar results were apparent in each feed phase period (P < 0.05). Processing yield results indicate a 45-g increase in breast weight when GAA was included in broiler diets (P = 0.0354). Basal ingredients and GAA inclusion effects interacted, which affected d42 breast yield (BY) (P = 0.0443). The inclusion of GAA in NAP diets did not affect BY; however, BY was reduced by 1.78 percentage points when broilers were provided the CON diet devoid of GAA. GAA has the potential to improve broiler performance and BY when included in broiler diets with basal ingredients including conventional animal protein.