Arginine in poultry nutrition

Abstract

A series of trials was carried out. Diets were prepared that were adequate in all other respects but which contained decreasing levels of protein and arginine. In the first series the protein level decreased from 24 to 16% and the arginine fell from 1.5 to 0.65%. There was a slight improvement in growth performance when the diet containing 0.65% arginine was supplemented with arginine. In a further series of experiments all the basal diets contained about 21% protein and the arginine content fell from 1.3 to 0.8%. Only at the lowest level was there any improvement in growth with addition of arginine. However, even in this instance it was demonstrated that the arginine content was only marginally inadequate. An arginine deficiency was aggravated by the addition of excess lysine. It has thus been demonstrated that the arginine requirement of the chick is around 0.8% of the diet when it contains 21% protein, or rather less than 4% of the protein. Arginine inadequacy is unlikely to occur in practical chick diets in the United Kingdom unless conditions of extreme amino acid imbalance are induced.