ARTICLE 86 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2025 ed that increasing the digestible arginine concentration positively benefited broiler body weight during periods of elevated temperatures. However, at the time of this publication in 1998, a commercially available option for a concentrated form of arginine was not available. With the introduction of feed grade L-arginine since 2016, dietary arginine concentrations can now be easily adjusted. Anderson et al., (2024) conducted an arginine dose response in broilers that were subjected to cyclic elevated temperatures (32 vs. 24 °C) in an effort to replicate summer conditions. In their study results, broilers fed increasing Arg ratios had linearly reduced cloacal temperatures at 46 days of age. This effect on core body temperature directly correlated with a linear reduction in observed feed conversion ratio and quadratic effects on breast meat yield with the apex of breast yield occurring at a ratio of 116%. These data demonstrate that the functional properties of arginine benefited the bird’s ability to handle elevated temperatures while providing sufficient arginine to maintain growth performance and yield. CONCLUSIONS Arginine is the most diverse essential amino acid necessary for numerous metabolic pathways that are essential for the health and wellbeing of an animal. Its roles in immunological functions, nitric oxide production, polyamines, creatine, proline synthesis and antioxidant capacity are vital to the ultimate performance of poultry and economic return. Due to the importance of these roles in health and wellbeing, providing less than adequate amounts of dietary arginine will force the animal to prioritize and potential lack sufficient amounts of arginine necessary for optimal economic performance, growth and yield. 44.50 44.00 43.50 43.00 42.50 42.00 41.50 41.00 40.50 43.48 43.39 dArg/dLys, % 43.3 43.06 42.88 43.27 80 92 104 116 128 140 Figure 4. Cloacal body temperature (°C) of Ross 708 male broilers on day 46 of age while being reared during cyclic elevated temperatures being fed a diet with increasing ratios of dArg:dLys from 80 to 140% ATX ARG+ATX 500 µm 500 µm Figure 3. Representative histomorphology pictures of jejunum in broiler chickens. ATX birds received a basal diet and subjected to a C. perfringens challenge. ARG+ATX birds received a basal diet supplemented with 0.3% arginine and subjected to a C. perfringens challenge Figure adopted from Wang et al., (2024)
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