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Importance of water quality in poultry

Escrito por: David Corredor
Drinking water

In poultry farming, water is used as drinking water for the good productive performance of poultry and as a vehicle for nutritional additives; it is also used for cleaning and disinfection activities.

Main functions of water in the poultry:

The water content in the body of a day-old chick is 85%, that of an adult layer is 55%, that of the egg is 65%, which explains why animals are more sensitive to water deficiency than feed deficiency.

Water quality

Having a water quality program in poultry production units is a guarantee for the health of the birds, and for this, it is essential to know and quantify the water quality in the region and in each specific farm.

When evaluating water quality, the following should be considered:

The intestine of animals of zootechnical interest can be a reservoir for human pathogens such as enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter species, so it is of great importance to reduce the incidence and concentrations of these.

A water quality manual should be available for each poultry unit, detailing basic water quality requirements. This manual should include preparation and cleaning activities for tanks and pipes on the farm, a physical, chemical, and bacteriological analysis of the water, control of bacterial load, minimum requirements for drinker space or number of birds per drinker and water flow, ensuring accessibility, and water temperature. Regarding bacterial load, levels of colony forming units per milliliter close to zero are desirable. This factor directly influences the intestinal integrity of the birds, which is of great importance if we remember that it is the intestinal health that drives the productive performance.

Organic acids in drinking water

The use of organic acids in drinking water can destroy or reduce any vegetative pathogens in the water, as well as continue to work at the level of the digestive tract of the animals, thus avoiding excretion and recontamination of enterobacteria. In addition, it has the advantage of allowing the animals to be treated during feed withdrawal periods.

Organic acids are weak acids, which means that at acidic pH they only partially dissociate, so they can pass through the lipid membranes of the cells of the microorganisms. Once in the bacterial cytoplasm, a high proportion of the acid molecules will dissociate, releasing protons and organic acid anions that will ultimately lead to bacterial death.

Conclusions

Sources: Available upon request.

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