Supplemental arginine administered in ovo or in the feed reduces the susceptibility of broilers to pulmonary hypertension syndrome

Abstract

1. Two experiments were conducted to determine if in ovo and in-feed arginine (ARG) supplementation is effective in the prevention of pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS) in broiler chickens reared at high altitude.

2. In Experiment I, a total of 300 fertile eggs were divided into two equal groups. On d 5 of incubation, one group was injected with 0.5 ml of ARG (20 mg/ml) and the other remained untreated and served as controls. After hatching, male chicks (64 chickens per treatment) were selected and given a commercial maize–soyabean meal diet up to 48 d of age.

3. In Experiment II, a total of 128 male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to two treatments, a control group that were fed on a basal diet that met ARG requirements and the second was fed on the basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g ARG per kg of diet.

4. Cumulative mortality from ascites was recorded in both experiments. Results from Experiment I indicated that in ovo injection of ARG significantly decreased ascites mortality of broilers (18.8 vs. 43.8%). Results from Experiment II showed a similar effect so that ascites mortality in the group that were given Arg supplement was significantly lower than the control (28.1 vs. 43.8%).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank the Medical Research Center and Animal Research Center of Buali Sina University for the financial support.