Interrelationship between phosphorus, sodium, and chloride in the diet of laying hens.

Two experiments were conducted with commercial egg production type hens to determine the effects of dietary phosphorus, sodium, and chloride levels as related to levels of plasma calcium and phosphorus, blood acid-base balance, and production characteristics. Sodium and chloride were supplied to the diet as sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid, respectively. In Experiment 1, five treatment groups were fed diets ad libitum containing .2, .6, 1.0, 1.4, and 1.8% total phosphorus. The remaining treatment group was fed a diet containing .4% total phosphorus from 1400 to 2030 hr and 1.4% total phosphorus from 600 to 1100 hr. In Experiment 2, a 3 X 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used that consisted of three levels of total phosphorus (.2, .6, and 1.4%) and four levels of added sodium (0, .06, .22, and .45%) provided by sodium bicarbonate. Three other treatment groups were fed diets containing .36% supplemental chloride supplied by hydrochloric acid and either .2, .6, or 1.4% total phosphorus. Egg production was decreased in hens fed diets containing 1.8% total phosphorus. Egg specific gravity was decreased by both low and high phosphorus levels. Hens fed .4% total phosphorus in the afternoon produced eggs with higher specific gravity as compared with hens fed 1.4% total phosphorus during the entire experiment. At 1.4% dietary phosphorus, a significant increase in specific gravity was observed when .2 or .8% sodium bicarbonate was added to the diet. Increasing dietary phosphorus resulted in elevated plasma phosphorus and calcium concentration. Plasma phosphorus of hens fed .2 through 1.8% total phosphorus declined slowly from oviposition until 6 hr after oviposition and then reached a peak at 21 hr after oviposition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)