Effects of Guanidionoacetic Acid and Arginine Supplementation to Vegetable Diets Fed to Broiler Chickens Subjected to Heat Stress before Slaughter

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the supplementation of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and L-arginine (L-Arg) as creatine precursors to vegetable diets on the carcass yield and meat quality of broilers subjected to two days of heat stress before slaughter. A total of 1260 broiler chicks were distributed according to a completely randomized design into four treatments with nine replicates of 35 birds each. The treatments consisted of: T1 - vegetable diet based on corn and soybean meal (control diet); T2 - control diet with the inclusion of meat meal (3%); T3 - control diet supplemented with GAA (0.08%); and T4 - control diet supplemented with L-Arg (0.8%). The birds were submitted to heat stress for two days before slaughter (from 42 to 44 days of age). The birds fed the diets supplemented with GAA or L-Arg presented heavier carcasses (p