Subject: study the effects of sodium bicarbonate on broilers exposed to heat stress
The aim of the trial was to study the effect of different levels of sodium bicarbonate added to a commercial feed for broilers reared in heat stress conditions and at high density.
Conditions of the study: increase Bicar®Z supplementation to 0.3%, 0.6% and 0.9%
The trial was carried out on 246 1 day-old male Cobb 500 chicks allocated for 35 days in cages at a density of 450 cm2/animal.
Two types of feed were employed in the first (0-17 d) and in the second (17-35 d) period of the trial.
For each period, a control diet (C) and three diets with 0.3% (B1), 0.6% (B2) and 0.9% (B3) sodium bicarbonate were compared.
Results
After 35 days of trial, B3 broilers showed a higher body weight gain compared to C broilers (52.7 vs 50.1 g/d, P < 0.01).
The broilers belonging to B1 and B2 treatments were intermediate and presented a similar feed efficiency (1.66 g/d).
No effect was observed on feed intake, which averaged 84.9 g/d.
Mortality was not significantly different among the treatments.
Conclusions: what can you learn from this study?
Feed efficiency improved (P < 0.05) in B3 chicks when compared to C ones (1.62 vs 1.70 g/d).
A significant linear relationship was observed between sodium bicarbonate levels, daily body gain (P < 0.01) and feed efficiency (P < 0.05).