Effect of different levels of dietary sodium from sodium chloride on gastrointestinal tract response, tibia mineralization, and footpad dermatitis incidence in young turkeys

Abstract

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to determine whether different levels of dietary Na from NaCl affect gut function, tibia mineralization, and footpad dermatitis incidence in young turkeys. Male B.U.T. 9 turkeys (n = 308) were fed diets with very low, low, medium, and high NaCl addition, providing 0.07, 0.12, 0.17, and 0.22% Na and 0.23, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.49% Cl. Only the very low NaCl treatment negatively (P < 0.05) affected the growth rate and feed conversion in 8-wk-old turkeys. Both very low and low dietary NaCl levels adversely affected the density index and the elastic strength of the tibia. Dry matter concentrations in the small intestine and digesta viscosity were found to decrease along with increasing NaCl addition. The moisture content of cecal digesta and excreta was not affected by dietary treatments, although significantly lower footpad dermatitis scores were noted in groups fed the very low and low NaCl diets. A high salt level was associated with an increase in cecal pH, NH3 concentrations, and β-glucuronidase activity (P < 0.05 vs. other groups). It may be concluded that the medium level of NaCl addition seems to be the best dietary option because the other treatments decreased the BW of 8-wk-old turkeys (very low NaCl level), reduced tibia strength (very low and low NaCl levels), or negatively affected cecal metabolism (high NaCl level).