The effects of dietary L-carnitine supplementation on the performance, organ weights and circulating hormone and metabolite concentrations of broiler chickens reared under a normal or low temperature schedule
- 1 May 2001
- journal article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in British Poultry Science
- Vol. 42 (2), 230-241
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660120048492
Abstract
1. The present study examined the effects of the addition of 100 mg/kg L-carnitine to the basal starter (containing 17.8 mg/kg L-carnitine) and finisher (containing 22.9 mg/kg L-carnitine) diets on performance, organ weights and plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations of male and female broiler chickens. The broiler chickens were reared either in a room with a normal temperature (NT) program or with a low temperature (LT) program (rapid decrease from 28 degrees C to 20 degrees C at 14 d of age). 2. Broiler chickens reared under the LT schedule consumed more food and attained a greater body weight at 42 d of age than their counterparts reared under NT schedule, without any difference in food efficiency or abdominal fat content. Dietary L-carnitine supplementation had no significant effects on any of these production parameters, except for a reduction in the abdominal fat content of female NT chickens. However, the LT schedule and dietary L-carnitine supplementation greatly increased absolute and proportional heart weights. The elevated heart weights were not due to right ventricle hypertrophy. 3. Both the LT program and L-carnitine supplementation increased circulating plasma triiodothyronine concentrations. There were also some transient effects of both experimental variables on plasma growth hormone, glucose and triglyceride concentrations. 4. L-carnitine did not improve broiler performance. However, this result does not mean that L-carnitine supplementation cannot have beneficial effects in other circumstances. In view of the elevated proportional heart weights, it can also be argued that L-carnitine is a potential agent for reducing the incidence of metabolic diseases in broiler chickens.Keywords
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