The experiment was implemented to
assess the influence of dietary supplementation of laying
quails with creatine monohydrate (CrM), L-carnitine
(CAR) and their mixture (CrMCAR) as antioxidants
against oxidative stress (OS) induced by 2.5 ppm lead
acetate (LA) in drinking water on productive, physio-
logical and microbial aspects. In total, 400 laying quail
females at 10 wk of age were divided into a randomized
design with 5 groups and 4 replicates of 20 birds each.
Birds were fed ad libitum with a balanced diet for 8 wk.
The control group was kept under no-stress conditions
and was given fresh water without any additives (G1).
While birds in other groups were exposed to OS induced
experimentally by 2.5 ppm LA in drinking water with
no feed additive (G2) or supplemented with 500 mg/kg
CrM (G3) or 500 mg/kg CAR (G4) or combination of
250 mg/kg each of CrM and CAR (CrMCAR, G5) to
feed mixture.
Compared to G2, G5 demonstrated the reduction (P ≤
0.05) of feed conversion ratio, feed intake, mortality and
ileal total coliform, as well as serum and egg
malondialdehyde and serum lipid hydroperoxide, uric
acid, glucose, cholesterol, enzymatic activities (alanine
aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline
phosphatase, creatine phosphokinase, g-glutamyl
transferase), and heterophils/lymphocytes ratio. In the
meanwhile, there was an increase (P ≤ 0.05) in egg pro-
duction, egg mass, and weight with the improvement of
egg quality, serum sex hormones level and ileal lactic
acid bacteria for G5 followed by G4 and G3. Moreover,
G5 enhanced (P ≤ 0.05), the total antioxidant capacity
of egg and serum glutathione, superoxide dismutase,
catalase, glutathione peroxidase, protein and calcium
levels. Therefore, dietary CrMCAR, CAR and CrM
have analogous influence to control by improving the
antioxidant and physiological parameters which
resulted in better productive performance and egg
characteristics of stressed quails. These antioxidants,
especially in their equal combination, are beneficial to
alleviate oxidative stress incidence and can be recom-
mended for poultry feeding under various aspects of
environmental stresses.