An trial was conducted to determine the best electrolyte balance (EB) for broilers from 1 to 42 days old. In the first phase of the experiment 2,112 Ross chicks male were reared in the floor covered with shaving woods and fed two corn-soybean meal based diet: one with 20 and one with 23% of crude protein (CP) combined with 0; 50; 100; 150; 200; 250; 300 and 350 mEq/kg of EB. In the growing phase, 1,728 broilers of the total, remained in the experimental units and were fed only a basal diet. The experiment was analyzed as a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement of treatments (two protein sequences and eight EB levels) and six replicates of 18 broilers each one. The following parameters were evaluated: weigh gain (WG), feed consumption (FC), feed efficiency (FE), carcass yield, noble cuts and the dry matter of broiler litter at 42 days of age. The best EB estimated at 42 days were 179 (20-20% CP) and 185 (23-20% CP) mEq/kg for the WG and similar values were found for the highest FC, 193 (20-20% CP) and 192 (23-20% CP) mEq/kg. The FE (23-20% CP) had the best value estimated 159 mEq/kg, lower than the values found for WG and FC. For carcass yield and noble cuts the best values obtained were similar to the performance values. The values obtained for the highest level of dry matter in the broiler litter were 138 (20-20% CP) and 148 (23-20% CP) mEq/kg. Based on the obtained data, EB should be from 160 to 190 mEq/kg for the best performance of broilers from 1 to 42 days old.
broilers; acid basic balance; performance; protein level; noble cuts; broiler litter
