The influence of drinking water containing sodium chloride on performance and eggshell quality of a modern, colored layer strain.

Hubbard ISA IsaBrown pullets were purchased from a commercial supplier at 16 wk of age and kept at a constant 18 C or a constant 30 C in temperature-controlled rooms. The purpose of our experiment was to determine the effect of ambient temperature on the eggshell quality responses of laying hens receiving saline drinking water with or without simultaneous supplementation of the diet with ascorbic acid or Zn methionine. Four treatments were investigated: 1) a basal layer diet (C) and local drinking water, 2) diet C and local drinking water containing 2 g NaCl/L, 3) diet C containing 200 mg ascorbic acid/kg and local drinking water containing 2 g NaCl/L, and 4) diet C with 360 mg Zinpro 100 (Zn methionine)/kg and local drinking water containing 2 g NaCl/L. The local drinking water contained <1 mmol Cl/ L. The pullets received a continuous daily photoperiod of 16 h from fluorescent lighting, and production measures were made between 20 and 60 wk of age. Production and eggshell quality were significantly reduced at 30 C compared with 18 C but were not significantly affected by the dietary and water treatments. The results indicated that the IsaBrown hens were relatively insensitive to intakes of NaCl from the drinking water at concentrations of 2 g/L. This lack of sensitivity in eggshell quality contrasts with the majority of published reports, including earlier work with local Australian layer strains. It is suggested that this contrasting sensitivity may relate to the concentration of dietary NaCl used during the selection of layer genotypes.