Evaluation of morphological changes in small intestines of broiler chicks fed with different levels of glutamine in pre-starter diet on post-hatch period

Glutamine supplementation to the pre-starter diet of broiler chicks could improve their performance during the first week of post-hatch.
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of glutamine levels in the pre-starter diet on intestinal mucosa morphology and performance of broiler chicks.
A total of 160 Ross 308, one-day old broilers were used in a complete randomized block design with 3 treatments of 5 replicates. Diets were formulated to contain different levels of glutamine (0, 0.5 and 1%). Body weight and feed intake were measured at 6 and 13d. On d 0, 3, 6 and 13 post hatch, 2 birds per each replicate were weighted and killed, and samples of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were taken subsequently.
Supplementation of diets with 1% glutamine improved growth performance and feed efficiency at 6 and 13 day post hatch (p Addition of 1% glutamine to the pre-starter diets improved broiler growth performance and resulted in better development of the intestinal mucosa in broiler chicks.