Electrolytes supplementation through drinking water to revive broiler production during tropical summer stresses management.

This experiment was carried out for a period of 4 weeks with 240 day old straight- run broiler (Cobb-500) chicks to investigate the effects of administering electrolytes in drinking water on the productive performance (live weight, body weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion and water consumption) and to determine the economic impact of using electrolytes. The chicks were randomly distributed into three different treatments: control (without electrolyte supplementation), continually supplemented electrolyte group and intermittently supplemented electrolyte group (when temperature rose to 30 ˚C or above). Statistically significant (P<0.001) differences in body weight and body weight gain were observed among treatments with the highest final body weight and body weight gain in birds that received electrolytes. Analysis of performance data showed significant difference in feed conversion (P<0.05) and also in water consumption (P<0.01). Birds of continuously supplemented electrolyte group and intermittently supplemented electrolyte groups showed significant improvement in feed conversion. Economic returns tended to be higher (P<0.05) in the continuously electrolyte supplemented group. Data suggest that both continuous and intermittent supplementations of electrolyte during summer improve the feed conversion in broilers. Thus electrolytes may be supplied to broilers during summer but additional feeding trial would be helpful to fully evaluate the impact of additional electrolytes.