A trial was carried out to evaluate the performance of female ROSS 308 broilers, from 1 to 21 days of age, submitted to 20% of water restriction (WR) or ad libitum water and four different sodium levels by adding NaCl to the drinking water (0, 150, 300, or 450 ppm) from 1 to 7 days of age. A control group, with four replications (rep), housed one day before the beginning of the experiment, was used as reference for WR calculation. Two commercial diets where fed from 1 to 7 days and from 8 to 21 days to all birds. The chicks were raised in battery cages. A randomized complete design, in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement, with four replications/treatment and 14 birds/replicate, was applied. Feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in... |