A trial was carried out to determine the best electrolyte balance value (EB) for broilers performance from 1 to 7, 1 to 14, 1 to 21 and 1 to 42 days of age. A total of 720 one-day-old chicks, males, were reared in the floor covered with shaving woods and fed corn-soybean base diets combined with 200; 250; 300; 350 e 400mEq/kg of EB. A completely randomized experimental design with six replicates of 24 chicks each and 36 experimental units was used. Weigh gain (WG), feed intake (FC) and feed efficiency (FE) were evaluated at 7, 14, 21 and 42 days of age. The best values of EB estimated for the WG at 21 and 42 days was 70mEq/kg, estimated by a quadratic regression model. No differences among treatments were observed for the other studied traits. The results suggested EB should be around 270 up to 300mEq/kg in high temperature regions, for broiler chicks in inicial and growth phases.
broiler chick; metabolic acidosis; IFET-Cuiabá; electrolyte; performance
