Effect of in Ovo Injection of Different L-Arginine Levels on Hatchability, Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Ross 308 Broiler Chickens

    Previous studies indicated the positive impact of dietary supplementation of arginine on meat quality and growth, though there is no report regarding the effect of in ovo injection of arginine on meat quality. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of in ovo injection of different levels of L-arginine on hatchability, growth performance, and meat quality of Ross 308 broiler chickens. In this research, 300 fertile eggs were used in a completely randomized design with three experimental treatments (levels of 0.5 and 1% of L- arginine and total control). Experimental groups included: 1) in ovo injection of 0.5% L-arginine, 2- in ovo injection of 1% L-arginine, 3) total control group {collected control 1 (injection of distilled water) and control 2 (no injection)}, which were injected on d 14 of incubation. After hatching, broiler chicks of arginine treatments and total control group were divided each into four equal groups and placed randomly into four cages (replicates of the experiment). The rearing period continued from hatching to d 24. In order to investigate the quality of meat, on day 24, three chicks from each replicate (12 chicks per each treatment) were weighed, slaughtered and their breast muscles were used for meat quality evaluation. Based on the results, in ovo injection of different levels of L- arginine did not significantly affect 1, 10 and 24 day-old birds’ weight, daily weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and relative weight of scalped carcass and breast muscle (P >0.05). Although, meat pH, meat fat and Ash content, and meat color indexes (a*, b*, L*, H) were not affected by L- arginine in ovo injection treatments (P>0.05), meat water loss, ΔD, and C indexes were significantly affected by experimental treatments (P˂0.05). Based on the overall results of this study, in ovo injection with different levels of L- arginine could not have a significantly noticeable effect on growth performance, meat production and/or meat quality of 24 day- old broiler chickens.