The effect of in ovo injection of L- Glutamine and its dietary supplementation on performance, carcass traits and immune response of broiler chickens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of in ovo injection of L- Glutamine (Gln) and its supplementation on performance, carcass traits, length and partial weights of different parts of small intestine and cellular and humoral immune responses of broiler chickens. For this purpose, 40 mg Gln inoculated into amniotic fluid of the 17.5 day- old developing embryos. After hatch, 160 one-day old broiler chicks were selected and then were fed with diets containing 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% Gln from day one to day 41 of age. This experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 4 replicates and 10 chicks per each. The results of present study showed that supplementation 1% Gln significantly improved the body weight gain of chickens during the total experimental period (P<0.05). The highest breast meat and carcass yield was seen by 1% Gln supplementation (24.06 and 64.16 %, respectively). The highest partial weights of different small intestine parts (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and sum of them) was observed by 1.5% Gln supplementation (P<0.05). Moreover, addition of 1% Gln produced the highest level of antibody production against sheep red blood cell (P<0.05). The IgM production was not affected with Gln supplementation (P>0.05). In conclusion, in ovo injection of 40 mg Gln into amniotic fluid of the 17.5 one-day old developing embryos and supplementation 1% Gln after hatch can improve the performance, carcass traits and cellular and humoral immune responses of broiler chickens.