Iranian Journal of animal Science

Iranian Journal of animal Science

Effects of dietary anion-cation balance during starter period on performance, small intestine morphology, serum electrolyte level, and tibial mineralization in broiler chicks

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Sohaila Azarzartosht 1
Ahmad Karimi 2
Gorbanali Sadeghi 3
1 Former M. Sc. Student, Animal Science Department, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, 66177-15175, Kurdistan, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Animal Science Department, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, 66177-15175, Kurdistan, Iran
3 Professor, Animal Science Department, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, 66177-15175, Kurdistan, Iran
10.22059/ijas.2017.216280.653470
Abstract
This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of starter period’s (1 to 10 d) dietary cation-anion balance on performance, tibia bone mineralization, serum electrolyte level, carcass characteristics and small intestine morphology. A total of 280 day-old broiler chicks of Ross 308 strain were used in a completely randomized design. Treatments consisted of five different level of dietary cation-anion balance (150, 200, 250, 300, and 350 mEq/Kg) and each of them replicated four times (14 birds per replicate). The results showed that feeding a diet with anion-cation balance of 350 mEq/Kg, significantly (P<0.05) reduced body weight and weight gain during starter and grower periods, feed intake reduced and feed conversion ratio increased during starter period. Dietary cation-anion balance had no significant effects on serum electrolytes, relative weight of carcass and gastrointestinal organs to body weight and intestinal morphology. Reducing dietary cation-anion balance level to less than 300 mEq/Kg had no significant (P>0.05) effects on tibia bone ash content, but significantly (P<0.05) reduced the phosphorus and calcium content of tibia ash at 21 and 42 days of age, respectively. In conclusion, the results indicated that maintaining appropriate dietary cation-anion balance during starter period (200 to 300 mEq/kg) is utmost important to achieve optimal broiler chicks’ performance.
Keywords
Broiler Chicken
Calcium
electrolyte balance
performance
phosphorus
  1. AOAC. (1990). Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 15th edn. AOAC, Washington, D.C., USA.
  2. Arantes, U. M., Stringhini, J. H., Olevira, M. C., Martins, P. C., Rezende, P. M., Andrade, M. A., Leandro, N. S. M. & Café, M. B. (2013). Effect of different electrolyte balances in broiler diets. Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science, (3), 233-237.
  3. Bidar, N., Rezaei, M., Sayyah Zadeh, H. & Kermanshahi, H. (2007). Effect of feeding periods and sodium levels of pre-starter diet on broiler performance and serum electrolytes. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 6(8), 959-963.
  4. Borgatti, L. M. O., Albuquerque, R., Meister, N. C., Souza, L. W. O., Lima, F. R. & Trindade Neto, M. A. (2004). Performance of broilers fed diets with different dietary balance under summer conditions. Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science, 6(3), 153-157.
  5. Borges, S. A., Fischer da Silva, A. V., Ariki, J., Hooge, D. M. & Cummings, R. (2003). Dietary electrolyte balance for broiler chickens under moderately high ambient temperatures and relative humidities. Poultry Science, 82, 301-308.
  6. Borges, S. A., Fischer da Silva, A. V., Maiorka, A., Hooge, D. M. & Cummings, R. (2004). Physiological responses of broiler chickens to heat stress and dietary electrolyte balance (sodium plus potassium minus chloride, milliequivalents per kilogram). Poultry Science, 83, 1551-1558.
  7. Borges, S. A., Maiorka, A., Laurentiz, A. C., Fischer da Silva, A. V., Santin, E. & Ariki, J. (2002). Electrolytic balance in broiler chicks during the first week of age. Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science, 4(2), 149-153.
  8. Dinev, I., Denev, S. A. & Edens, F. W. (2012). Comparative clinical and morphological studies on the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia as a cause of lameness in three commercial lines of broiler chickens. The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 21, 637-644.
  9. Edwards Jr., H. M. & Veltmann, J. R. (1983). The role of calcium and phosphorus in the etiology of tibial dyschondroplasia in young chicks. Journal of Nutrition, 113, 1568-1575.
  10. Hulan, H. W., Simons, P. C. M., Van Schagen, P. J. W., Mcrae, K. B. & Proudfoot, F. G. (1987). Effect of dietary cation-anion balance and calcium content on general performance and incidence of leg abnormalities of broiler chickens. Journal of Animal Science, 67,165-177.
  11. Koreleski, J., Swiatkiewiez, S. & Arczewska, A. (2010). The effect of dietary potassium and sodium on performance, carcass traits, and nitrogen balance and excreta moisture in broiler chicken. Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences, 19, 244-256.
  12. Koreleski, J., Swiatkiewicz, S., Arczewska-Wlosek, A. & Slonecki, M. (2011). Effect of dietary electrolyte balance on rearing performance of broiler chickens under farm conditions. Annual Animal Science,11(3), 405-412.
  13. Maiorka, A., Magro, N., Batles, H. A. S., Kessler, A. M. & Penz Jr, A. M. (2004). Different sodium levels and electrolyte balance in pre-starter diets for broilers. Poultry Science, 6(3), 143-146.
  14. Mongin, P. (1981). Recent advances in dietary anion-cation balance: applications in poultry. In: Proceeding of the Nutrition Society, 40, 285-294.
  15. Murakami, A. E., Franco, J. R. G., Martins, E. N., Ovideo Rondon, E. O., Sakamoto, M. I. & Pereira, M. S. (2003). Effect of electrolyte balance in low protein diets on broiler performance and tibial dyschondroplasia incidence. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 12, 207-216.
  16. Mushtaq, T., Sarwar, M., Nawaz, H., Aslam Mirza, M. & Ahmad, T. (2005). Effect and interactions of dietary sodium and chloride on broiler starter performance (hatching to twenty-eight days of age) under subtropical summer conditions. Poultry Science, 84, 1716-1722.
  17. Nassiri Moghaddam, H., Janmohammadi, H. & Jahanian Najafabadi, H. (2005). The effect of dietary electrolyte balance on growth, tibia ash and some blood serum electrolytes in young pullets. International Journal of Poultry Science, 7, 493-496.
  18. Nursoy, H., Sogot, B., Tasal, T., Aldemir, A., Kaplan, O. & Altacli, S. (2011). The effects of varying dietary Na/K ratio and electrolyte balance of diets on growth, blood gases, hematological variables, ionized calcium and carcass traits in broiler chickens. Kafkas Univercity Veterinary Fakulty Dergasi, 6, 979-986.
  19. Ravindran, V., Cowieson, A. J. & Selle, P. H. (2008). Influence of dietary electrolyte balance and microbial phytase on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and excreta quality of broiler chickens. Poultry Science, 87, 677-688.
  20. Raymond, J., Johnson, O. & Karunajeewa, H. (1985). The effects of dietary minerals and electrolytes on the growth and physiology of the young chick. Journal of Nutrition, 115, 1680-1690.
  21. Ross Nutrition Supplement. (2009). Available from: ⟨http://www.aviagen.com/⟩.
  22. SAS Institute. (2001). SAS/STAT User, Guide. Release Version 9.1. SAS Institute Inc. Cary. NC.
  23. Sauveur, B. & Mongin, P. (1978). Tibial dyschondroplasia, a cartilage abnormality in poultry. Annals de Biology Animale Biochimi Biophysique, 1, 87-98.
  24. Shahbaz, T. H., Zafar Alam, M., Nadeem, A. & Ashfaq, M. (2004). Effect of varying dietary cation-anion balance on broilers growth. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 1, 82-84.
  25. Sklan, D. & Noy, Y. (2000). Hydrolysis and absorption in the small intestines of posthatch chicks. Poultry Science, 9, 1306-1310.
  26. Summers, J. D. (1997). Dietary electrolyte balance- its effect on bird performance. Pp. 92-98. In: Proceedings of Australian Poultry Science Symposium,Sydney, Australia.
  27. Tako, E., Ferket, P. R. & Uni, Z. (2004). Effects of in ovo feeding of carbohydrates and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate on the development of chicken intestine. Poultry Science, 83, 2023-2028.
  28. Vieira, S. L., Penz, A. M., Pophal Jr, S. & Almeida, G. (2003). Sodium requirements for the first seven days in broiler chicks. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 12, 362-370.

  • Receive Date 28 September 2016
  • Revise Date 03 February 2017
  • Accept Date 04 February 2017