Furtado et al., 2011. Rev. Caatinga, 24 (3):182-189.

Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia Lindl.) is a shrub originating from Australia, which represents one of the forage resources suitable for rainfed land in arid and semiarid regions of Brazil, they have tolerance to dry and saline. In this context, it was aimed to verifying the effect of partial replacement of the conventional diet of saltbush hay on performance and carcass quality of chickens. The treatments consisted of substituting 0, 5, 10 and 15% of the basal saltbush hay. There was a significant effect (P <0.01) of the replacement of the hay on intake of crude protein, crude fiber and gross energy, average daily gain, feed conversion, body weight, absolute weight of carcass, thigh, chest and abdominal fat, and relative weight of thigh, abdominal fat and liver, indicating that the replacement of hay up to 10% of the conventional diet for broiler chickens does not compromise on performance and carcass characteristics of chickens.