Effects of arginine on the growth performance, hormones, digestive organ development and intestinal morphology in the early growth stage of layer chickens

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of arginine on the growth performance, hormones, digestive organ development and intestinal morphology of chicks of laying hens. A total of three hundred 1-d-old male Lohmann Brown chicks were randomly assigned to five groups, each with six replicate sets of 10 birds. The five groups were fed different diets containing 1.19, 1.44, 1.69, 1.94 or 2.19% arginine from 1 d to 42 d of age. The results showed that dietary levels of arginine had a significant effect on body weight at 14, 28 and 42 d (p