Poultry Dietary Electrolyte Balance (dEB ) and It`s Calculation

One of the important things in poultry nutrition that some overlook is the DIETARY ELECTROLYTE BALANCE (dEB ) for sodium (Na), chloride (Cl) and potassium (K) and the importance of these elements for feeding chickens in general, these essential ions maintain osmotic pressure and acid-base balance of body fluids as the imbalance in these elements leads to several problems and metabolic disorders, including.

·????????Poor feed conversion and lower body weight.

·????????Muscular and leg weakness.

·????????Increased fecal moisture, leading to poultry wet litter problems.

·????????Ascites or “water belly”.

·????????Sudden death syndrome.

·????????Bone or eggshell quality issues.

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Dietary electrolyte balance was determined using the following equation:?

Example calculation:

Broiler starter feed for ROSS 308 with calculated 0.191% sodium, 0.182% chloride and 0.82 % potassium in the diet.

Following is recommended dEB values, based on numerous research studies around the world, International Poultry Production journal:

·????????Broilers: 240 mEq/kg; higher in summer and times of stress

·????????Breeders: 200 to 230 mEq/kg

·????????Layers: 250 mEq/kg

???Aviagen ROSS 308 (2022) recommendation about 220-230 mEq/kg.

?dEB and crude protein percentage

Within the range of 14-28% dietary?crude protein, the optimum electrolyte balance is increased by approximately 11 mEq (Na+, K+, Cl-/kg) per 1 percentage unit increase in diet protein content, A.A. Adekunmisi?and?K.R. Robbins.

?The calculation of dEB under summer season is different than winter season, and the percentage of crude protein is very important for calculating the dEB. If we assume that the percentage of crude protein in the broiler starter feed is 23%, then the expected dEB equal to

?Dietary electrolyte balance (dEB ) ?must be taken into account in general in poultry formulas, and all nutritionists should not overlook these calculations to insure the correct balance for these elements.

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References:

-????????Aveagen Ross Broiler Handbook 2018 .

-????????International Poultry Production?Volume 28 Number 1 13.

-????????Dietary Electrolyte Requirement of Broiler Chicks as Affected by Dietary Protein Content (A.A. Adekunmisi?and?K.R. Robbins)