Body Weight, Carcass Yield, and Intestinal Contents of Broilers Having Sodium and Potassium Salts in the Drinking Water Twenty-Four Hours Before Processing

Abstract

Primary Audience: Field Management Personnel, Nutritionists, Poultry Scientists, Processing Plant Personnel SUMMARYThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of drinking water supplementation with graded increases of Na and K salts on the performance and gut contents of broilers before processing. Birds had no water, tap water, or water supplemented with sodium bicarbonate or potassium chloride in the concentrations of 0.15, 0.30, and 0.45% in the last 12 and 24 h before processing. The last 12 h coincided with preslaughter feed withdrawal. Cobb × Cobb 500 male broilers (46 d old) were set in a completely randomized experimental design with 8 treatments and 9 replications of 9 birds each. Birds were individually processed within a period of 12 h of feed withdrawal every 2 h. Individual weighing was followed with electrical stunning and removal of intestinal contents of the upper (crop through the gizzard) and lower segment (duodenum through cloaca). Water intake increased linearly with greater salt concentrations in the water (P < 0.05). Body weight loss increased linearly through the feed withdrawal; however, it was greater with birds without water access (P < 0.0001). There were no effects of treatments on the yields of carcass and cuts as well as on the intestinal contents at all evaluated times. Intestinal contents from upper and lower segments were decreased with time, but responses to the water treatments were not observed (P > 0.05). It is concluded that increasing water intake through the use of Na and K salts did not affect the rate of gut emptying before processing.

Welfare of domestic birds and rabbits transported in containers

“…Gomes et al. (2008) reported a linear body weight loss during a 12‐h feed withdrawal period of 0.20% and 0.36%, for broilers with and without access to water, respectively. This highlights the importance of dehydration for total weight loss.…”

“…Therefore, increased contamination occurs with excreta originating from long fasting periods due to their higher viscosity. In chickens, extremely watery excreta have been found with withdrawal periods longer than 12 h (Chen and Moran Jr, 1995), probably from an accentuation of intestinal cell breakdown (Gomes et al., 2008). This condition is likely to affect the health and welfare of the broilers.…”