Salt Intoxication in Commercial Broilers and Breeders - A Clinical and Pathological Description

ABSTRACT
Several broiler commercial farms were affected with different overdoses of sodium chloride in their feed. Within a period of about one month about six commercial broiler farms and one breeding farm, all from the southern part of Israel were affected. The clinical picture ranged from increased water consumption and wet litter without any mortality to houses with 20% mortality and severe clinical and pathological findings typical of sodium intoxication. The most affected broiler flocks suffered from increased mortality of chicks from 5 days of age with many chicks appearing on their backs paddling and showing difficulty in standing, severe respiratory distress, apathy and some neurological signs suggesting brain involvement such as lack of coordination and opistotonous. Pathological findings included severe subcutaneous edema, accumulation of clear fluid in the pericardium, ascites and enlarged kidneys. Mortality reached in the most affected flocks was more than 20% within 7 days. The breeding flocks affected by salt overdose did not show any mortality or clinical signs, but suffered from increased water consumption and wet litter and a drop in egg production of up to 8%. Post mortem examination in these flocks revealed enlarged swollen kidneys. Salt or sodium intoxication in poultry is an exceptional situation in the modern poultry industry. In this report we describe the clinical and pathological findings of feed related salt/sodium intoxication at different concentrations and at different ages in broilers and breeders due to technical problems in production at the feed mill.

Keywords: Broilers; Salt intoxication; Poultry Feed; Mortality; Chicks.
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