Research note: effect of removing salt from the diet of broiler breeder hens

Two 28-day experiments were conducted utilizing 75-wk-old Arbor Acres broiler breeder hens to determine the effect of removing salt from the diet. Birds in Experiment 2 had been force-rested at 60 wk of age but were in production (65% hen-day) at experiment initiation. All hens received a corn-soybean meal diet either with or without added salt. Egg production was significantly reduced in both experiments by the end of the 4th wk for birds fed the diet with no added salt. However, egg production did not cease in hens receiving the diet with no added salt. Egg weights from hens receiving the diet with no added salt were significantly reduced by the end of Week 2 in Experiment 1 and Week 3 in Experiment 2. Specific gravity was only intermittently affected by dietary salt removal. Birds receiving no added salt lost 541 and 580 g in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Birds receiving added salt diets gained 55 and 23 g in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Removing salt from the diet was not an acceptable method of force-resting broiler breeder hens.