Effects of Dietary L-glutamine Supplement on Performance, Egg Quality, Fertility and Some Blood Biochemical Parameters in Guinea Fowls (Numida meleagris)

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of L-glutamine and synergistic effects between glutamic acid in wheat and glutamine on productive performance, egg quality characteristics, blood biochemical parameters and fertility traits of guinea fowls fed with corn-soybean meal-wheat based diets. 120 guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) were allocated to a completely randomized design with six treatments consisted of four replicates and 5 birds per replicate. Treatments were included: 1) corn-soybean meal based diet (control1), 2) corn-soybean meal-wheat based diet-(control2), 3) control1 containing 0.5% L-glutamine, 4) control1 containing 1% L-glutamine, 5) control2 containing 0.5% L-glutamine, 6) control2 containing 1% L-glutamine. Results showed that diet supplementing with L-glutamine significantly increased egg mass, egg production, egg weight, shell thickness, haugh unit, levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, hatchability and one-day chick weight and also improved feed conversion ratio compared with control1 and 2 diets (P< 0.01). The best response for fertility traits was achieved in birds fed with control2 containing 1% glutamine. It can be concluded that 1% glutamine has positive effects on performance, some egg quality traits and fertility parameters. Positive synergistic effect between wheat and glutamine on fertility traits can be valuable in guinea fowls.