Effect of guanidinoacetic acid supplementation on production performance of breeder Japanese quails

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation of breeder Japanese quails. A total of 240 birds (180 females and 60 males) were distributed into five dietary treatments using a completely randomized design, with each treatment consisting of four replicates, each replicate comprising 9 females and 3 males (3 female: 1 male). The birds fed with the basal diet, consisting of maize and soybean meal, provided 22 per cent of crude protein and 2650 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy. The treatments were: T1 (0 % GAA), T2 (0.05 % GAA), T3 (0.10 % GAA), T4 (0.15 % GAA) and T5 (0.20 % GAA). The results revealed that supplementation of GAA had no significant (P> 0.05) impact on body weight, feed intake and feed conversion efficiency. Dietary level of 0.15 % GAA had significant (P < 0.05) improvement in egg production during 15 to 18 weeks of age compared to control. Egg quality traits remained similar among the different treatment groups. The study suggests that supplementation of 0.15 % GAA in the diet improves egg production without compromising the growth performance of the birds. Keywords: Guanidinoacetic acid, Japanese quail, production, egg quality