GUT HEALTH ▶▶▶ Figure 1 - Broiler performance at 37 days of age.
3.0 3.5 4.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
2.33 2.34 1.57 1.57 Body weight (kg) Feed intake (kg) FCR
Figure 2 - The sulphate content of faeces. 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9.2b 4.8a
Cost implications It can be concluded that sodium sulphate can replace other sodium sources in diets for broilers without any detrimental effects on performance. In so doing, there is the potential to reduce the cost of sodium addition to feed. This offers pro- ducers a significant economic advantage allowing to get the benefits of an improved DEB. The use of sodium sulphate sig- nificantly reduces litter ammonia emissions compared to so- dium bicarbonate. This finding has benefits for both the health and performance of the birds, as well as the working conditions of stock people. At the same time, any concerns of the effect on faecal consistency or litter quality have been de- leted. Overall the use of sodium sulphate offers poultry pro- ducers a large scale of opportunities without compromising performance.
Sodium bicarbonate Sodium sulphate
At Adisseo, Yves Mercier is Research Manager Amino Acids and Antioxidants, Pascal Thiery is Head of the Technical Support, Europe-Middle East-Africa and Dolores Batonon-Alavo is Expert in Amino acids – Monogastrics. References for this article are available on request.
Dietary electrolyte balance
DEB plays an important role in body’s water management and the acid:base regulation of blood. An adjusted electrolyte bal- ance allows maintaining blood buffer system. The Dietary Electrolyte Balance is calculated using the amount of electro- lytes expressed as g/kg for each ingredient as follow: DEB =Na + K – Cl. (mEq/kg). If levels of sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) ions are too high in the diet then too many H+ ions will be pumped out of the blood. Conversely, the addition of chlo- ride (Cl-) will reduce the blood HCO3- levels, leading to acido- sis, whilst at the same time reducing the blood buffering ca- pacity. An excess of chloride, compared to sodium, should therefore be avoided. Any imbalance will increase the meta- bolic acid load and initiate a regulatory process by the bones lungs or kidneys. This in turn is energetically expensive, requir- ing nutrients that would otherwise be used for growth etc. It is therefore recommended that DEB be a formulation matrix constraint, along with ideal levels of each electrolyte.
12 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 25, No. 10, 2017 Released through mouth
Na+ and K+ are
alkalogenic Dietary HCO3– + H+
Na+ K+
H2O + CO2 Cl– is acidogenic Cl– Digestive tract
HCO3– [H+] then pH Blood
Sodium sulphate Sodium bicarbonate
3.62 3.61
litter pH (<8) that would reduce the ammonia producing bac- teria growth rate. It is known that increasing DEB in broilers increases litter pH but replacing sodium bicarbonate with so- dium sulphate results in lower litter pH and hence ammonia emissions. The second idea put forward is that part of the sul- phate excreted by the birds chemically interacts with ammo- nia present in the litter. That it transforms it into ammonium sulphate, hence reducing the release of ammonia from the litter, instead binding it within and reducing litter pH.
H+
[H+] then pH
Equation equilibrium pH = 7.4 CO2 + H2OH2CO3 H+ + HCO3–
Faecal sulphate content (g/kg)
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