Effect of Dietary Salt on the Performance of Laying Hens

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary salt level on the laying performance of egg-type hens. The results show that when producing hens are fed a diet containing no added salt there was a rapid decline in egg production and a marked decrease in feed intake and body weight. Subsequent feeding of a salt-adequate diet resulted in a rapid resumption of egg production to a level higher than that of the control hens and to a significant improvement in shell and interior quality. There was no evidence in either experiment of any adverse effects due to the feeding of low-salt diets for periods of four to six weeks.