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The Arginine Requirement of the 4–7 Week Old Broiler1
2379
SALT DEFICIENCY AND FORCE RESTING
1976. Response of laying hens to a low salt diet. Poultry Sci. 55: 000-000. Perdomo, J. T., R. H. Harms and L. R. Arrington, 1966. Effect of dietary iodine upon egg production, fertility and hatchability. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 122: 758-760. Shaffner, C. S., 1955. Progesterone induced molt. Poultry Sci. 34: 840-842. Snyder, E. S., and H. L. Orr, 1960. The effect of length of lay, holding temperature, holding time and forced molting on egg quality. Poultry Sci. 39: 1297. Whitehead, C. C , and D. W. F. Shannon, 1974. The control of egg production using a low sodium diet. Br. Poultry Sci. 15: 429-434. Wilson, H. R., J. S. Moore, A. W. O'Steen, J. L. Fry and R. H. Harms, 1969. Force molting of laying hens. Florida Exp. Sta. Bui. 728.
The Arginine Requirement of the 4-7 Week Old Broilerl J. W.
KESSLER AND O.
P. THOMAS
Department of Poultry Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (Received for publication March 22, 1976)
ABSTRACT Two floor pen studies were conducted to determine the minimum arginine level needed to support maximum weight gain and optimum feed conversion during the 4-7 week period of growth for both males and females. Floor feather counts were used as an additional criteria for determining the arginine requirement. The basal diets were calculated to contain 0.74 and 0.80% arginine based on the analyzed values for corn, corn gluten meal, skimmilk and soybean meal. Regression equations were calculated from the data obtained for the males only. Based on the regression equations, the calculated requirement for maximum weight gain, optimum feed conversion, and floor feathers is 1.09, 1.10, and 1.13% arginine, respectively. When expressed as a function of energy, these requirements would be 0.329, 0.332, and 0.341% arginine per megacalorie of metabolizable energy per kg. of diet, respectively. The differences in rate of gain data for the females were non-significant, indicating the requirement of the females to be less than the males. The female requirement, based on floor feathers, would appear to be 0.98% dietary arginine. POULTRY SCIENCE 55: 2379-2382,
INTRODUCTION
R
E S E A R C H data indicating the arginine requirement of the 4 - 7 week old broiler could not b e f o u n d in t h e literature. C o m b s (1970) r e c o m m e n d s an amino acid-metabolizable energy ratio of 0.77 for arginine in broiler rations during the 5-8 week period
1. Scientific Article No. A2198 Contribution No. 5176 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (Department of Poultry Science).
1976
of growth. This ratio relates to m o d e r a t e environmental t e m p e r a t u r e conditions and should be increased by 5 to 10% for s u m m e r feeding conditions w h e r e hot weather is e x p e c t e d . T h e National A c a d e m y of Sciences (1971) lists the arginine requirement of t h e broiler for the 0-6 w e e k period of growth t o be 1.40% of the diet and 1.20% for the 6-9 week period. T h o m a s et al. (1975) revised t h e tables published by C o m b s (1970). H o w e v e r , the revisions m a d e did not c h a n g e the r e c o m m e n d e d value for arginine during
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
Douglas, C. R., R. H. Harms and H. R. Wilson, 1972. The use of extremely low dietary calcium to alter the production pattern of laying hens. Poultry Sci. 51:2015-2020. Hansen, R. S., 1960. The effect of methods of force molting on reproductive performance of chickens. Poultry Sci. 39: 1257. Himeno, K., and Y. Tanabe, 1957. Mechanism of molting in the hen. Poultry Sci. 36: 835-842. Len, R. E., H. Abplanalp and E. A. Johnson, 1964. Second year production of force molted hens in the California random sample test. Poultry Sci. 43: 638-646. Martin, G. A., T. B. Morris, M. H. Gahle and D. G. Harwood, 1973. Force molting by limiting calcium intake. Poultry Sci. 52: 2058. Nesbeth, W. G., C. R. Douglas and R. H. Harms,
2380
J. W. KESSLER AND O. P. THOMAS
the 4-7 week growth period. In the work reported herein, two experiments were conducted to determine the arginine requirement for the 4-7 week old broiler, both males andfemales, utilizing diets composed of practical feed ingredients.
Two floor pen studies were designed to measure the arginine requirement for the broiler chick during the 4-7 week period of growth. The experimental birds were fed a commercial broiler ration during the 0-4 week growth period. The commercial diet contained 22% crude protein and 3234 kcal. of metabolizable energy (M.E.) per kg. of diet with all amino acids fed at the recommended levels stated by Thomas (1975). Feed ingredient samples were collected from both experiments and analyzed for percent arginine on a Durrum D-500 amino acid analyzer. The values obtained were the average of samples hydrolyzed for 18, 24 and 30 hours. All dead birds were weighed during the experimental period and appropriate adjustments were made for mortality when calculating feed conversions (F.C.). The first experiment, a preliminary floor pen study using 4 week old Arbor Acre males, was conducted in an attempt to determine the approximate level of arginine required to sufficiently depress growth and increase the feed conversion of the experimental birds. Seven levels of arginine ranging from 0.74 to 1.28% were fed to three replicates of 20 birds. The basal diet (Table 1, Experiment 1) was calculated to contain 0.74% arginine using analyzed values of 0.35, 2.05, 1.23, and 3.67% arginine for corn, corn gluten meal, skimmilk, and soybean meal, respectively. The basal diet was calculated to contain 3245 kcal. of M.E. per kg. of diet and 21.27% crude protein. All essential amino acids were fed at 103% of the currently recommended requirements as stated by Thomas (1975),
Ingredient Corn, ground yellow Corn, gluten meal—60% Skimmilk, dried Soybean meal—49% Stabilized fat blend Defluor. phosphate Sand Limestone Salt Choline chloride—50% Vitamin premix' Trace mineral mix 2 Ferrous sulfate L-lysine HO—98% L-tryptophan L-isoleucine L-threonine Coccidiostat 3 Coccidiostat 4 Ethoxyquin powder 5 Analysis Metabolizable energy (kcal./kg.) Protein, % Arginine, %
Exp. 1 68.13 21.72 3.00 0.46 0.50 1.97 1.99 0.53 0.37 0.27 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.86 0.04 0.003
Exp. 2 64.53 24.15 1.79
—
—
2.09 2.10 3.04 0.45 0.37 0.28 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.93 0.05 0.01 0.009
0.05
—
—
0.05 0.009
0.009
3245 21.27 0.74
3311 21.94 0.80
'To supply the following per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 11, 023 I.U.; vitamin D3, 3307 I.U.; vitamin E, 8.8 I.U.; menadione dimethylphrimidinol, 5.84 mg.; riboflavin, 13.23 mg.; folacin, 0.44 mg.; pantothenic acid, 22.05 mg.; vitamin B 12 , 26.46 meg.; niacin, 66.14 mg. 2 To supply the following per kilogram of diet: Manganese, 75 mg.; zinc, 40 mg.; copper, 3.0 mg.; iodine, 0.75 mg. 3 Amprol Plus, Merck Chemical Company. 4 Zoalene, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan. 5 Santoquin, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri.
except for arginine. All diets were made isonitrogenous by the addition of glutamic acid. Prior to the seventh week weighing, floor feathers were counted from a given area as an additional criterion for determining the arginine requirement. This was accomplished by extending a 15 cm. strip along the length of a pen (164 cm.) and counting the floor
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
METHODS AND MATERIALS
TABLE 1.—Basal diets
2381
ARGININE REQUIREMENT OF BROILERS
Prior to the seventh week weighing, floor feather counts were taken in all pens. The method utilized was the same as described for Experiment 1. The area sampled was 15 cm. wide and 290 cm. long in two replicates and 15 cm. wide and 164 cm. long in the third replicate. The body weight gain, feed conversion and floor feather counts data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and the means separated by Student-Newman-Keuls' multiple range test (Sokal and Rohlf, 1969).
TABLE 2.—Experiment L Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) 7 Week 4-7 Week
%
wt. (kg.)'
gain (kg.)
0.74 0.83 0.92 1.01 1.10 1.19 1.28
1.69 1.70 1.79 1.79 1.84 1.82 1.83
0.826a2 0.923b 0.912b 0.932b 0.958b 0.951b 0.964b
Arginine
Floor feathers 4.0a 10.0a 13.0a 27.0a 19.0a 21.3a 19.0a
1 Mean of three replicates with twenty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05). *Feed conversion is defined as kilograms of feed required per kilogram of gain.
TABLE 3.—Experiment 2. Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) for males Arginine
%
7 Week 4-7 Week wt. gain (kg.)1 (kg.)
F.C.
Floor feathers
0.80 1.86 0.886a2 2.95a 0.00a 0.89 1.94 0.965a 2.49a 0.33a 0.98 2.02 1.056b 2.29b 6.67ab 1.07 2.04 1.074b 2.25b 12.67b 1.16 2.06 1.082b 2.17b 18.00b 1.25 2.00 1.048b 2.24b 11.33ab 1.34 2.07 1.085b 2.17b 16.67b 1.43 2.06 1.094b 2.12b 9.67ab 'Mean of three replicates with fifty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05). TABLE 4.—Experiment 2. Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) for females
RESULTS Experiment 1. This preliminary floor pen study was conducted to determine if the formulated basal diet would depress growth and increase feed conversion. The data (Table 2) indicate that the treatment level containing 0.74% arginine had a significantly poorer (P < 0.05) rate of gain than the other treatments. Feed conversion was not significantly decreased (P < 0.05) above the 1.01% level of arginine. The maximum gain and lowest
F.C.* 2.53a 2.38b 2.34b 2.25c 2.26c 2.23c 2.23c
7 Week 4-7 Week
%
wt. (kg.)'
0.80 0.89 0.98 1.07 1.16 1.25 1.34 1.43
1.60 1.59 1.64 1.62 1.63 1.62 1.65 1.64
Arginine
gain (kg.) 0.785a2 0.779a 0.820a 0.806a 0.815a 0.809a 0.815a 0.812a
F.C.
Floor feathers
2.56a 2.46ab 2.37b 2.39b 2.35b 2.34b 2.33b 2.35b
3.33a 7.33ab 23.00c 18.33bc 26.00c 19.00bc 19.33bc 25.67c
' Mean of three replicates with fifty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05).
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
feathers within, a method described by Hunchar and Thomas (1976). Samples were collected from the same area in all pens. In Experiment 2 four week old Hubbard x Hubbard males and females were randomly distributed in floor pens so that there were 24 pens of males and 24 pens of females with 50 birds per pen. Eight treatment levels of arginine were fed so that each treatment was replicated three times per sex. The treatment levels ranged from 0.80 to 1.43% dietary arginine. The basal diet (Table 1, Experiment 2) was calculated to contain 0.80% arginine using analyzed values of 0.40,2.14, and 1.29% arginine for corn, corn gluten meal and skimmilk, respectively. The basal diet was formulated to contain 3311 kcal. of M.E. per kg. of diet and 21.94% crude protein with all essential amino acids fed at 103% of the recommended requirements suggested by Thomas (1975), except for arginine.
2382
J. W. KESSLER AND O. P. THOMAS
Experiment 2. The data (Tables 3 and 4) permitted the calculation of regression equations for maximum gain, optimum feed conversion and floor feather counts for males only. The rate of gain for the males was significantly depressed (P < 0.05) on all treatment levels with less than 0.98% dietary arginine. The rate of gain data for females was non-significant, indicating the requirement of the females to be less than the males. The birds fed the 0.98% arginine diet had the highest numerical gain. The feed conversion data for males were not significantly decreased (P < 0.05) above the 0.98% level of arginine while the female's feed conversion did not significantly decrease above the 0.89% level of arginine. Floor feather counts, an additional criterion for determining the arginine requirement, were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) for males on treatments containing 0.80 and 0.89% arginine and for females on the 0.80% arginine treatment. The floor feather counts were highest for both sexes at the 1.16% arginine level. DISCUSSION The arginine requirement of the male broil-
er for the 4-7 week period of growth is only slightly less than those previously suggested for this phase of growth. The responses to graded levels of arginine in Experiment 2 permitted the calculation of regression equations for the males only and are as follows: 4-7 week weight gain (kg.) y = 1.029 + 1.274 log x 1 4-7 week feed conversion y = 2.373 - 4.563 log x 4-7 week molted body feathers y = 9.013 + 118.490 log x 1
Where x = percent arginine in the diet.
Based on the regression equations, the calculated requirement for maximum weight gain, optimum feed conversion and floor feathers is 1.09, 1.10, and 1.13% arginine, respectively. When expressed as a function of energy, these requirements would be 0.329, 0.332, and 0.341% arginine per megacalorie of M.E. per kg. of diet, respectively. From the data obtained in this study, the requirement for arginine during the 4-7 week period would appear not to exceed 1.13%; or expressed as a function of energy, 0.341% per megacalorie of M.E. per kg. of diet for males, whereas the female requirement, based on floor feathers, appears to be 0.98% dietary arginine.
REFERENCES Combs, G. F., 1970. Feed ingredient composition of amino acid standards for broilers. Proc. Md. Nutr. Conf. for Feed Mfgrs.: 81-89. Hunchar, J. G., and O. P. Thomas, 1976. The tryptophan requirement of male and female broilers during the 4-7 week period. Poultry Sci. 55: 379-383. National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 1971. Nutritional requirements of poultry Publication 827: 15. Sokal, R. R., and F. J. Rohlf, 1969. Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, California p. 239. Thomas, O. P., P. V. Twining, Jr. and E. H. Bossard, 1975. The amino acid and protein requirements for broilers. Proc. Md. Nutr. Confr. for Feed Mrgrs.: 48-53.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
feed conversion were obtained at the 1.28 and 1.19% levels of arginine, respectively. In Experiment 1 the floor feather counts were, however, statistically non-significant. This study was conducted in a facility where the pens were separated by chicken wire. The feathers could, therefore, drift between pens when ventilation was increased or by increased bird movements. This made an accurate estimation of number comparisons between treatments difficult. Although the floor feather counts were non-significant statistically, there does appear to be a trend. The lower treatment levels have fewer feathers present on the floor; but due to sampling variance are not statistically different from the higher arginine levels.
SALT DEFICIENCY AND FORCE RESTING
1976. Response of laying hens to a low salt diet. Poultry Sci. 55: 000-000. Perdomo, J. T., R. H. Harms and L. R. Arrington, 1966. Effect of dietary iodine upon egg production, fertility and hatchability. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 122: 758-760. Shaffner, C. S., 1955. Progesterone induced molt. Poultry Sci. 34: 840-842. Snyder, E. S., and H. L. Orr, 1960. The effect of length of lay, holding temperature, holding time and forced molting on egg quality. Poultry Sci. 39: 1297. Whitehead, C. C , and D. W. F. Shannon, 1974. The control of egg production using a low sodium diet. Br. Poultry Sci. 15: 429-434. Wilson, H. R., J. S. Moore, A. W. O'Steen, J. L. Fry and R. H. Harms, 1969. Force molting of laying hens. Florida Exp. Sta. Bui. 728.
The Arginine Requirement of the 4-7 Week Old Broilerl J. W.
KESSLER AND O.
P. THOMAS
Department of Poultry Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (Received for publication March 22, 1976)
ABSTRACT Two floor pen studies were conducted to determine the minimum arginine level needed to support maximum weight gain and optimum feed conversion during the 4-7 week period of growth for both males and females. Floor feather counts were used as an additional criteria for determining the arginine requirement. The basal diets were calculated to contain 0.74 and 0.80% arginine based on the analyzed values for corn, corn gluten meal, skimmilk and soybean meal. Regression equations were calculated from the data obtained for the males only. Based on the regression equations, the calculated requirement for maximum weight gain, optimum feed conversion, and floor feathers is 1.09, 1.10, and 1.13% arginine, respectively. When expressed as a function of energy, these requirements would be 0.329, 0.332, and 0.341% arginine per megacalorie of metabolizable energy per kg. of diet, respectively. The differences in rate of gain data for the females were non-significant, indicating the requirement of the females to be less than the males. The female requirement, based on floor feathers, would appear to be 0.98% dietary arginine. POULTRY SCIENCE 55: 2379-2382,
INTRODUCTION
R
E S E A R C H data indicating the arginine requirement of the 4 - 7 week old broiler could not b e f o u n d in t h e literature. C o m b s (1970) r e c o m m e n d s an amino acid-metabolizable energy ratio of 0.77 for arginine in broiler rations during the 5-8 week period
1. Scientific Article No. A2198 Contribution No. 5176 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (Department of Poultry Science).
1976
of growth. This ratio relates to m o d e r a t e environmental t e m p e r a t u r e conditions and should be increased by 5 to 10% for s u m m e r feeding conditions w h e r e hot weather is e x p e c t e d . T h e National A c a d e m y of Sciences (1971) lists the arginine requirement of t h e broiler for the 0-6 w e e k period of growth t o be 1.40% of the diet and 1.20% for the 6-9 week period. T h o m a s et al. (1975) revised t h e tables published by C o m b s (1970). H o w e v e r , the revisions m a d e did not c h a n g e the r e c o m m e n d e d value for arginine during
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
Douglas, C. R., R. H. Harms and H. R. Wilson, 1972. The use of extremely low dietary calcium to alter the production pattern of laying hens. Poultry Sci. 51:2015-2020. Hansen, R. S., 1960. The effect of methods of force molting on reproductive performance of chickens. Poultry Sci. 39: 1257. Himeno, K., and Y. Tanabe, 1957. Mechanism of molting in the hen. Poultry Sci. 36: 835-842. Len, R. E., H. Abplanalp and E. A. Johnson, 1964. Second year production of force molted hens in the California random sample test. Poultry Sci. 43: 638-646. Martin, G. A., T. B. Morris, M. H. Gahle and D. G. Harwood, 1973. Force molting by limiting calcium intake. Poultry Sci. 52: 2058. Nesbeth, W. G., C. R. Douglas and R. H. Harms,
2380
J. W. KESSLER AND O. P. THOMAS
the 4-7 week growth period. In the work reported herein, two experiments were conducted to determine the arginine requirement for the 4-7 week old broiler, both males andfemales, utilizing diets composed of practical feed ingredients.
Two floor pen studies were designed to measure the arginine requirement for the broiler chick during the 4-7 week period of growth. The experimental birds were fed a commercial broiler ration during the 0-4 week growth period. The commercial diet contained 22% crude protein and 3234 kcal. of metabolizable energy (M.E.) per kg. of diet with all amino acids fed at the recommended levels stated by Thomas (1975). Feed ingredient samples were collected from both experiments and analyzed for percent arginine on a Durrum D-500 amino acid analyzer. The values obtained were the average of samples hydrolyzed for 18, 24 and 30 hours. All dead birds were weighed during the experimental period and appropriate adjustments were made for mortality when calculating feed conversions (F.C.). The first experiment, a preliminary floor pen study using 4 week old Arbor Acre males, was conducted in an attempt to determine the approximate level of arginine required to sufficiently depress growth and increase the feed conversion of the experimental birds. Seven levels of arginine ranging from 0.74 to 1.28% were fed to three replicates of 20 birds. The basal diet (Table 1, Experiment 1) was calculated to contain 0.74% arginine using analyzed values of 0.35, 2.05, 1.23, and 3.67% arginine for corn, corn gluten meal, skimmilk, and soybean meal, respectively. The basal diet was calculated to contain 3245 kcal. of M.E. per kg. of diet and 21.27% crude protein. All essential amino acids were fed at 103% of the currently recommended requirements as stated by Thomas (1975),
Ingredient Corn, ground yellow Corn, gluten meal—60% Skimmilk, dried Soybean meal—49% Stabilized fat blend Defluor. phosphate Sand Limestone Salt Choline chloride—50% Vitamin premix' Trace mineral mix 2 Ferrous sulfate L-lysine HO—98% L-tryptophan L-isoleucine L-threonine Coccidiostat 3 Coccidiostat 4 Ethoxyquin powder 5 Analysis Metabolizable energy (kcal./kg.) Protein, % Arginine, %
Exp. 1 68.13 21.72 3.00 0.46 0.50 1.97 1.99 0.53 0.37 0.27 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.86 0.04 0.003
Exp. 2 64.53 24.15 1.79
—
—
2.09 2.10 3.04 0.45 0.37 0.28 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.93 0.05 0.01 0.009
0.05
—
—
0.05 0.009
0.009
3245 21.27 0.74
3311 21.94 0.80
'To supply the following per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 11, 023 I.U.; vitamin D3, 3307 I.U.; vitamin E, 8.8 I.U.; menadione dimethylphrimidinol, 5.84 mg.; riboflavin, 13.23 mg.; folacin, 0.44 mg.; pantothenic acid, 22.05 mg.; vitamin B 12 , 26.46 meg.; niacin, 66.14 mg. 2 To supply the following per kilogram of diet: Manganese, 75 mg.; zinc, 40 mg.; copper, 3.0 mg.; iodine, 0.75 mg. 3 Amprol Plus, Merck Chemical Company. 4 Zoalene, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan. 5 Santoquin, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri.
except for arginine. All diets were made isonitrogenous by the addition of glutamic acid. Prior to the seventh week weighing, floor feathers were counted from a given area as an additional criterion for determining the arginine requirement. This was accomplished by extending a 15 cm. strip along the length of a pen (164 cm.) and counting the floor
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
METHODS AND MATERIALS
TABLE 1.—Basal diets
2381
ARGININE REQUIREMENT OF BROILERS
Prior to the seventh week weighing, floor feather counts were taken in all pens. The method utilized was the same as described for Experiment 1. The area sampled was 15 cm. wide and 290 cm. long in two replicates and 15 cm. wide and 164 cm. long in the third replicate. The body weight gain, feed conversion and floor feather counts data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and the means separated by Student-Newman-Keuls' multiple range test (Sokal and Rohlf, 1969).
TABLE 2.—Experiment L Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) 7 Week 4-7 Week
%
wt. (kg.)'
gain (kg.)
0.74 0.83 0.92 1.01 1.10 1.19 1.28
1.69 1.70 1.79 1.79 1.84 1.82 1.83
0.826a2 0.923b 0.912b 0.932b 0.958b 0.951b 0.964b
Arginine
Floor feathers 4.0a 10.0a 13.0a 27.0a 19.0a 21.3a 19.0a
1 Mean of three replicates with twenty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05). *Feed conversion is defined as kilograms of feed required per kilogram of gain.
TABLE 3.—Experiment 2. Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) for males Arginine
%
7 Week 4-7 Week wt. gain (kg.)1 (kg.)
F.C.
Floor feathers
0.80 1.86 0.886a2 2.95a 0.00a 0.89 1.94 0.965a 2.49a 0.33a 0.98 2.02 1.056b 2.29b 6.67ab 1.07 2.04 1.074b 2.25b 12.67b 1.16 2.06 1.082b 2.17b 18.00b 1.25 2.00 1.048b 2.24b 11.33ab 1.34 2.07 1.085b 2.17b 16.67b 1.43 2.06 1.094b 2.12b 9.67ab 'Mean of three replicates with fifty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05). TABLE 4.—Experiment 2. Weight gain, feed conversion, and molted body feather data for the finisher period (4-7 weeks) for females
RESULTS Experiment 1. This preliminary floor pen study was conducted to determine if the formulated basal diet would depress growth and increase feed conversion. The data (Table 2) indicate that the treatment level containing 0.74% arginine had a significantly poorer (P < 0.05) rate of gain than the other treatments. Feed conversion was not significantly decreased (P < 0.05) above the 1.01% level of arginine. The maximum gain and lowest
F.C.* 2.53a 2.38b 2.34b 2.25c 2.26c 2.23c 2.23c
7 Week 4-7 Week
%
wt. (kg.)'
0.80 0.89 0.98 1.07 1.16 1.25 1.34 1.43
1.60 1.59 1.64 1.62 1.63 1.62 1.65 1.64
Arginine
gain (kg.) 0.785a2 0.779a 0.820a 0.806a 0.815a 0.809a 0.815a 0.812a
F.C.
Floor feathers
2.56a 2.46ab 2.37b 2.39b 2.35b 2.34b 2.33b 2.35b
3.33a 7.33ab 23.00c 18.33bc 26.00c 19.00bc 19.33bc 25.67c
' Mean of three replicates with fifty birds per replicate. 2 Within each column means bearing at least one like letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05).
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Kokusai Hoken Keikakugaku (UNIV OF TOKYO) on May 29, 2015
feathers within, a method described by Hunchar and Thomas (1976). Samples were collected from the same area in all pens. In Experiment 2 four week old Hubbard x Hubbard males and females were randomly distributed in floor pens so that there were 24 pens of males and 24 pens of females with 50 birds per pen. Eight treatment levels of arginine were fed so that each treatment was replicated three times per sex. The treatment levels ranged from 0.80 to 1.43% dietary arginine. The basal diet (Table 1, Experiment 2) was calculated to contain 0.80% arginine using analyzed values of 0.40,2.14, and 1.29% arginine for corn, corn gluten meal and skimmilk, respectively. The basal diet was formulated to contain 3311 kcal. of M.E. per kg. of diet and 21.94% crude protein with all essential amino acids fed at 103% of the recommended requirements suggested by Thomas (1975), except for arginine.
2382
J. W. KESSLER AND O. P. THOMAS
Experiment 2. The data (Tables 3 and 4) permitted the calculation of regression equations for maximum gain, optimum feed conversion and floor feather counts for males only. The rate of gain for the males was significantly depressed (P < 0.05) on all treatment levels with less than 0.98% dietary arginine. The rate of gain data for females was non-significant, indicating the requirement of the females to be less than the males. The birds fed the 0.98% arginine diet had the highest numerical gain. The feed conversion data for males were not significantly decreased (P < 0.05) above the 0.98% level of arginine while the female's feed conversion did not significantly decrease above the 0.89% level of arginine. Floor feather counts, an additional criterion for determining the arginine requirement, were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) for males on treatments containing 0.80 and 0.89% arginine and for females on the 0.80% arginine treatment. The floor feather counts were highest for both sexes at the 1.16% arginine level. DISCUSSION The arginine requirement of the male broil-
er for the 4-7 week period of growth is only slightly less than those previously suggested for this phase of growth. The responses to graded levels of arginine in Experiment 2 permitted the calculation of regression equations for the males only and are as follows: 4-7 week weight gain (kg.) y = 1.029 + 1.274 log x 1 4-7 week feed conversion y = 2.373 - 4.563 log x 4-7 week molted body feathers y = 9.013 + 118.490 log x 1
Where x = percent arginine in the diet.
Based on the regression equations, the calculated requirement for maximum weight gain, optimum feed conversion and floor feathers is 1.09, 1.10, and 1.13% arginine, respectively. When expressed as a function of energy, these requirements would be 0.329, 0.332, and 0.341% arginine per megacalorie of M.E. per kg. of diet, respectively. From the data obtained in this study, the requirement for arginine during the 4-7 week period would appear not to exceed 1.13%; or expressed as a function of energy, 0.341% per megacalorie of M.E. per kg. of diet for males, whereas the female requirement, based on floor feathers, appears to be 0.98% dietary arginine.
REFERENCES Combs, G. F., 1970. Feed ingredient composition of amino acid standards for broilers. Proc. Md. Nutr. Conf. for Feed Mfgrs.: 81-89. Hunchar, J. G., and O. P. Thomas, 1976. The tryptophan requirement of male and female broilers during the 4-7 week period. Poultry Sci. 55: 379-383. National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 1971. Nutritional requirements of poultry Publication 827: 15. Sokal, R. R., and F. J. Rohlf, 1969. Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, California p. 239. Thomas, O. P., P. V. Twining, Jr. and E. H. Bossard, 1975. The amino acid and protein requirements for broilers. Proc. Md. Nutr. Confr. for Feed Mrgrs.: 48-53.
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feed conversion were obtained at the 1.28 and 1.19% levels of arginine, respectively. In Experiment 1 the floor feather counts were, however, statistically non-significant. This study was conducted in a facility where the pens were separated by chicken wire. The feathers could, therefore, drift between pens when ventilation was increased or by increased bird movements. This made an accurate estimation of number comparisons between treatments difficult. Although the floor feather counts were non-significant statistically, there does appear to be a trend. The lower treatment levels have fewer feathers present on the floor; but due to sampling variance are not statistically different from the higher arginine levels.