Evaluation of the Chloride Requirement of the Broiler Breeder Hen

Abstract

Two experiments wore conducted to evaluate the chloride requirement of the broiler breeder hen. Experiments were conducted for a twelve-week period and seven experimental diets wore fed. The diets contained the following dietary chloride levels: 0. 040, 0. 047, 0. 054, 0.060, 0.073, 0.09g, and 0. 174%. Sodiam bicarbonate was used to maintain a constant level of sodium. Levels of dietary chloride below 0.054% reduced EF; EW, & EC (ED X (EW-shell wt). Also, the highest level of dietary chloride reduced all characteristics. Dietary chloride did not have a significant effect on body weight gain or fertility and hatchability of eggs. The Nationa/ Research Council (1994) suggests that the broller breeder hen have daily chloride intake of 185 milligrams per hen per day. In Experiments 1 and 2 the requirement was 96.1 mg/hen/day and 101. 1 mg/hen/day for EP, 116.1 mg/hen/day and 148.3 mg/hen/day for maximum EW, and 95.9 mg/hen/day and 109. 5 mg/hen/day for EC, respectively.