Crude protein levels and electrolyte balance for starting broilers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different levels of crude protein (CP) and electrolyte balance (EB) of the feed of broilers. 880 male broiler chickens were fed in the period 1 to 7 days of age with two basal diets, one with EB 200 and another with 240 mEq kg-1, combined with CP levels of 22.04, 21.16, 20.28 and 19.40%. The optimal CP for weight gain (WG) was 21.3% while for the feed conversion (FC), the value was 21.06%, for birds fed diet with 200 mEq kg-1 of EB. Below these levels of CP, there was decrease in the WG and increase in FC birds even with the industrial amino acid supplementation. For feed intake, reduced levels of CP had no effect on neither one of EB levels studied. There were also no observed effect of the reduction in protein levels on blood parameters assessed, however there was a quadratic effect (P <0.01) on bone growth. The increased level of dietary EB from 200 to 240 mEq kg-1 improved weight gain and feed conversion of birds.