Heat stress ameliorative effect of guanidinoacetic acid and bee pollen supplementation on growth, nutrient utilization and blood biochemical status in broiler chicken

The study was undertaken to assess the heat stress ameliorative effect of Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and Bee pollen (BP) on growth performance, nutrient utilization and haemato-biochemical parameters in broiler chicken under heat stress (HS). One hundred and sixty (160) one week old broiler chicks were randomly assigned into four homogenous dietary treatment groups with four replicates each (10 chicks/ replicate) for a period of 5 weeks (2^nd to 6^th). The treatments comprised of T1- without heat stress and without supplementation, while T2 to T4 were reared under heat stress, where T3 and T4 was supplemented with GAA (1.2 g/kg) and BP (10 g/kg), respectively. Supplementation exerted significant (P<0.05) improvement in feed intake during finisher stage, where weekly, total and average feed intake was found high (P<0.05) in BP supplementation (T4). GAA (T3) and BP (T4) supplementation improved (P<0.05) digestion, metabolizability and retention of major nutrients compared to HS subjected group (T2). There was significant improvement in body weight, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (P<0.05); highest weight gain and feed conversion ratio was observed in GAA supplemented group (T3). HS (T2) resulted in decreased SOD and GSH with increased level of lipid peroxidation marker MDA (P<0.05). GAA and BP supplementation alleviated the metabolic stress by improving hematological indices, blood-biochemical and serum antioxidant status of birds. Based on findings, it was concluded that the supplementation of GAA and BP at 1.2 and 10 g/kg feed, respectively can ameliorate the effect of heat stress and improve performance of birds.