In our study, arginine requirement for breast meat
yield was slightly higher than that value for BW gain
in our experiment, which was similar to the requirement
estimation of arginine and lysine in chickens and
ducks (Labadan et al., 2001; Bons et al., 2002; Xie et
al., 2009). The requirement of arginine (1.16%) for
feed/gain was higher than that for weight gain, which
was further supported by our results that the CI of requirement
for feed/gain went beyond the CI for weight
gain (Table 3). Furthermore, the CI of requirement for
feed/gain was much wider than the CI for weight gain
or breast meat yield. Therefore, the requirement for
weight gain and breast meat was more accurate than
the value for feed/gain in our study.
In conclusion, supplementation of arginine in the diet
could improve growth performance and breast meat
was sensitive to increasing dietary arginine. Based on
quadratic broken-line regression analysis, the arginine
requirement for male White Pekin ducks from 1 to 21
d of age is 0.95, 1.16, and 0.99% of the diet for maximum
weight gain, feed/gain, and breast meat yield,
respectively.