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Penn State r *
| Poultry tV I
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Agricultural & Biological Engineering Agricultural Ecoqcnvjcs
IS WATER QUALITY
IMPORTANT FOR
POULTRY USE?
Dr. M. Hulet
Associate Professor
Department of
Poultry Science
Water 'is of unequaled impor
tance as a primary element in the
metabolism of all animals. Water
acts as a transport medium for all
nutrients, helps in controlling
digestive heat production, and aids
in heat loss by evaporation. Water
consumption is greatly influenced
by age and size of bird, environ
mental temperature, type and
amount of feed consumed, as well
as several other factors.
The normal avian adult will con
sume 5.5 percent of its body
weight in 24 hours while a growing
bird will consume 18 to 20 percent
of its body weight daily.
Drinking water for poultry can
be obtained from wells, the city
supply (human potable water),
streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, rain
fall catchments, and springs.
Water quality is characterized
by its taste, acidity, alkalinity,
odor, color, turbidity, salinity,
electrical conductivity, pH, bioch
emical oxygen demand, hardness,
presence of nitrites, nitrates, sili
cates, phosphates, carbonates,
bicarbonates, cations, and micro
bial and industrial contaminants
and toxicants.
Standards for human health fre
quently are applied to poultry
because data are limited on the
effects on poultry of various inor
ganic materials in the drinking
water. We are more interested
today in standards of toxicity that
may decrease poultry production
rather than from a mortality
standpoint
Some research from Tastybird
Foods, Russellville, Ark. (now
part of Tyson Foods), reported
results of a long-term study that
positively correlated certain water
characteristics with broiler cost of
production. Specifically, they cor
related bacterial contamination,
low pH, and high nitrate levels
with poor performance on particu
lar farms.
Dr. Dennis Murphy, a former
researcher at the University of
Maryland, has reported that 466
ppm in nitrate contamination of
wells caused significant growth
retardation in broilers. He also
found changes in water consump
tion and hematocrit levels
occurred when nitrate levels were
between 29 and 117 ppm levels.
Shallow wells were found to be
characteristically acidic and more
apt to have nitrate contamination.
He contended that the testing of
wells for pH, nitrate, and bacterial
contamination would be useful in
improving water quality and
performance.
Salinity
Water high in saline is less
palatable than water with lower
levels of these salts. Saline salts
are composed of sodium, calcium,
magnesium, and potassium. These
salts are found in bicarbonate,
chloride, or sulfate forms.
Salinity problems can vary with
the season of die year. Elevated
ammonium chloride and sodium
bicarbonate levels are desirable
and can be used to help offset the
effects of high summertime
ambient temperatures and main
tain egg production in broiler and
turkey breeders and egg layers.
At other times of the year, these
salt levels are not seen as desirable.
Since water consumption is
increased during summer, a salt
level that is non-toxic during other
times of the year can easily
become toxic because of the total
quantity consumed.
Salt in excess produces loose
droppings, whether the source is
from feed or from water. The mini
mum daily dietary requirement of
sodium is 0.1 IS percent for all
ages of chickens (normal table salt
contains 37 percent sodium).
Many feed ingredients contain
some salt so that the amount added
as strictly salt in a poultry ration is
seldom more than 0.25 percent. If
water contains 1,000 ppm salt, it is
equivalent to 0.20 to 0.25 percent
salt in the ration.
As the percentage of salt in the
diet increases over the optimum,
chickens will increase water con
sumption in order to dilute and
excrete the excess salt. However, if
the water supply is high in salt, an
increase in water intake only
aggravates the problem.
Poultry droppings become
almost watery when the salt con
tent in the water is more than 4,000
ppm. Chickens can tolerate about \ ,
percent salt in water and about 3.5
percent in feed, but when the
weather is hot, birds will drink up
to three times as much water,
therefore 1 percent salt becomes
excessive.
Young birds are more suscepti
ble than older birds. One case
study found that turkey poults suf
fered up to 50 percent mortality
when die water contains 5,000
ppm salt (0.5 percent) and the diet
also contained 0.5 percent salt.
Nitrates and
Nitrites
Nitrates and nitrites are found in
most waters. When found, they
usually indicate contamination
from animal and poultry wastes or
certain fertilizers.
In some instances, nitrates can
oripnate from some geological
sources. The symptoms of nitrate
nitrite toxicity vary with age and
kind of bird, level of nitrate or nit
rite consumed, and ration
composition.
Growing birds generally show
unthriftiness, loss of appetite,
depressed growth, incoordination,
muscle tremors, labored breathing,
and high mortality. Poultry seem
to be more tolerant of high nitrate
nitrite levels than humans, with
tolerance levels of 300 ppm for
nitrates and 50 ppm for nitrites (45
ppm nitrate causes blue babies’
syndrome, nitrate cyanosis, in
infants).
One effect of high nitrate-nitrite
level is decreased levels of Vita
min A and Beta-carotene in the liv
ers that can affect health and
growth.
Acidity
The taste preference of birds is
different from that of humans. In a
trial, chickens did not decrease
their water intake so long as pH
was between 2 and 10, but the
water was rejected at pH 1 and pH
13. However, a pH of 6.3 a* less
may interfere with antibiotic
uptake and therefore may be detri
mental to performance.
Chlorinating water is common
ly used for sanitation. The compo
nents that form the chlorine gas are
more reactive in waters of low pH
(acidic) than those of high pH
(basic).
Iron
Many water supplies have a
reddish-brown color due to the
presence of iron which, when
exposed to air, oxidizes and forms
iron oxide.
It stains almost everything and
may produce a slimy covering,
clogging water valves and
fountains.
Iron oxide is harmless to poul
try, but the slime produced may
harbor pathogenic microorgan-
Factor
Bacteria
(coliform/liter)
Sodium (ppm)
Nitrates (ppm)
Nitrites (ppm)
Iron (ppm)
Sulfates (ppm)
<= less than; > = greater than.
In conclusion, water quality is
important for poultry, however,
much is not known about how dif
ferent salts, high levels of nitrates,
and nitrites, and high or low pH
levels are detrimental and should
be avoided.
£ PAY OFF! |
Lancastw Farming, Saturday, April 9, 1994-C5
isnu. Effort* to soften, water drSU
ter water can help eliminate the
slime and iron, bat cate mutt be
taken to prevent adding detrimen
tal levels of salts by softening, or
creating a site for bacterial con
centration and growth by not
changing filters on a regular basis.
When hydrogen sulfide gas is
dissolved in water, the resulting
product is often termed a “rotten
egg” odor or taste to water. The
common origin is the result of
anaerobic bacterial action in the
water table, producing hydrogen
sulfide from organic matter con
taining sulfur.
Hydrogen sulfide itself has no
detrimental effect on poultry.
However, the fact that in most
instances bacterial action is neces
sary for formation of this sulfur
product means that an undesirable
environment exists in your water
system.
Chlorinating has been found to
obliterate the sulfur taste and odor
if added in the correct amount
We consider water “contami
nated” if it contains any E. coli.
Pseudomonas sp. or Staphylococ
cus sp. Pathogenic bacteria as well
as viruses can gain entrance to the
water supply as the water travels
across or down through soil and
, rock.
Sudden periods of heavy rains
or flooding may cause ordinarily
weather-exposed waste material to
be washed down into the water
table. Many times disease
producing microorganisms, parti
cularly coliform organisms, are an
indication of fecal contamination.
Although all coliform organ
isms are not pathogenic, many
possess this potential and their pre
sence indicates that infectious bac
teria and viruses might be present.
Poultry diseases possibly trans
mitted by the water supply include
salmonellosis, coryza, infectious
bronchitis, Newcastle disease,
blackhead and erysipelas, to name
a few. If the water is suspect, bac
terial counts of fecal coliform and
fecal streptococcal bacteria should
be taken.
Bacteria and viruses may be
destroyed by adding disinfectants
and sanitizers to the water (chlor
ine). Sanitizers used routinely can
also help control algae. The pre
sence of these organisms can be
greatly diminished if the water
lines and fountains are flushed,
drained, and disinfected with a
water line cleanser between flocks.
The following levels are listed
as guides for evaluating water
quality.
Detrimental Questionable No Effect
>2O
>lOO <5, >lO 6.0-8.5
>3OO 50 - 300 < 25
> 50 10 - 50 < 10
>6 3-6 <2
>lOOO 250 - 1000 < 250
Other water quality factors such
as turbidity, hardness, electrical
conductivity, oxygen demand, sili
cates, phosphates, and carbonates
have not been correlated with
poultry performance.
Sulfur
Microbial
Contamination
Conclusion
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