The Most Important Ingredient: Water

Dear Dr Munawar Ali, Yes sir you are absolutely right that most of the farmers as well as the veterinarian neglect the water quality & its bacteriostatic response that cause lots of problems in rearing the poultry birds such as: Weight loss due to diarrhea, enteric problems, etc.

Dear Munawar Ali, Congratulations for the article. It really demonstrates the importance of the water as same ingredient, many times forgotten. Mathews

This is avery good and informative article.I fully endorse the views that water is very much neglected area in poultry management by the poultry farmers/consulting vets The issue needs to be taken seroiusly at all the levels as it has tremendous effect in the health and performance of birds regards Dr s Chandra

Dear Sir, I agree on your comments regarding negligence of Farmers towards Water Quality provided for drinking purpose to birds. No doubt you have covered maximum hazardous causes to poultry if water quality is bad. Apart from that i want to add some information to your original article what i have experienced on field. Management tips on Water Quality issues: 1.For new farm operation before placing the first flock you have to check your water quality from renown laboratory for parameters listed in original article & with the help of analysis report you have to take precautionary treatment to make the water more clean & safe for your birds. 2. The running farmers have to check their water quality on seasonal basis .i.e. in summer,in winter & in rainy season every year & plan the water treatment accordingly for better farm productivity. 3. Please keep in mind that keeping the water quality clean at source is not only solution but you have to check the water quality what birds get at drinker level. 4.If nipple system is there on farm then you have to check the quality of water in storage tank & at point of nipple & make sure that it will be matching with the quality of water treated at source i.e.bore well,dip well,river water stored in the main storage tank after treatment. 5. Selection of water sanitizer should be as per the water quality at source. 6. regular cleaning of storage tanks , Pipelines & drinkers is must to keep water quality same till bird get consume. 7.Repairing or maintenance of pipeline is necessary if it has bent. Try to keep the pipeline always straight to avoid bacterial colony formation. 8. In case of hanging drinkers, the level of water in the drinker & its height from the ground plays very important role in keeping the water quality clean & safe. Dr. Jaydip Mulik(M.V.Sc.)

I take note of the points expressed in this article on water being the most important ingredient in poultry nutrtion. It is important in addition look at ways of maintaining the water quality at farm level in terms of the Ph . Too much alkalinity beyond 8.2 Ph will hinder growth and development of useful bacteria in the gut predisposing the flock to enteric problems. In such a case then acidification of the water can be adopted but then the Ph should not fall beyond 6.

Thank you very much for this very interesting article Abdelfetah-ALGERIA

Dear Dr. Mulik I highly appreciate your valid and practical points regarding water management. All the concerned persons can take benefit from these valuable suggestions. With best regards Dr. Munawar

ALL RESPECTED ENGORMIX MEMBERS I invite all members for disscussion on: IF WE REMOVE ALL THE MINERALS FROM DRINKING WATERWATER THROUGH REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS , CAN THIS WATER BE USEDFOR POULTRY? Waiting for your valuable comments Best Regards Dr. Munawar

ALL RESPECTED ENGORMIX MEMBERS I invite all members for discussion on: IF WE REMOVE ALL THE MINERALS FROM DRINKING WATER THROUGH REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS , CAN THIS WATER BE USEDFOR POULTRY? Waiting for your valuable comments Best Regards Dr. Munawar

It does not appear that water mineral load poses a serious problem to bird performance. In the future we may even find an advantage in adding sodium or potassium to drinking water or increasing the ration crude fiber before times of heat stress to increase water intake and help cool the bird. Bacterial contamination can be a more persistent problem. The installation of septic tanks, spray fields and disposal pits needs to include consideration of well location and the direction of underground water flow.

Dear Dr.Munawar Ali, I appreciate your effort to enlighten the need of clean fresh water free of pathogen and vital points to determine the quality of water. Your statement which reads as under … “The recommended pH for poultry drinking Water is generally 6.8 – 7.8. Acidic drinking water (low Ph) can affect digestion, corrode watering equipment and can be incompatible with vaccination and medication. Field research has proven that water with a pH 6 can impair broiler performance.” ….has attracted my attention and would like to supplement the following: We all know that Safe Drinking Water is essential for poultry health but contamination of drinking water in poultry is formidable. Depending on the source and supply path, water can get contaminated with various organic & inorganic substances resulting in high pH and growth of pathogens including Salmonella sp E.coli & fungi. Researches date back in 1942 (Farmer et al.,) found that by nature GI tract of poultry chicken is acidic to average approximately pH 4.5 The pH of gizzard is lowest at 2.6 where as the alimentary tract varied between 5.7 to 6.5. Fuerst & Kare (1961) found that chicks would accept water acidified to a pH as low as 2. Acceptance of this acidic water improved as the birds became older. Water acidified with organic acids was readily accepted if the pH was at 3 or 4, depending on the organic acid used. Moreover, McDougall et al., (1967) reported acidified drinking water greatly reduced the percentage of positive cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from drinking water bottle from 41[percent] to 4.2[percent] over a 2-year period. Tober-Meyer & Beiniek (1981) stated that autoclaving the bottles and the drinking water was not as effective as acidifying the drinking water in controlling bacterial numbers. High acidity is inhibitory to many bacteria, especially those that are pathogenic or of public health concern. The optimum growth pH of these pathogenic organisms usually lies within the pH range of 6.0 to 8.0 so to minimize pH very effectively direct acting organic acids are being used widely. Organic acids have three main mode of action: • As hygienic promoters, where they reduce pH and act as a complexing agent for ions thereby inhibiting microbial growth. • Reducing pH within the intestinal tract to improve enzyme activity. • As an energy source in metabolism (Roth & Kirchgessner, 1987). Furthermore, Strauss & Hayler in 2001 confirmed that certain bacteria are sensitive to acids of specific chain length, e.g. gram-ve bacteria are sensitive to acids comprising less than 8 carbon atoms. Hellweg et al., in 2006 and Freitag in 2007 stated that Organic acids exert their effect directly on microbial cell of acid sensitive bacteria. Lactobacilli spp. appears to be unaffected as these are acid loving bacteria. Some so called acidifier with formulation containing of Organic & inorganic acids are also available in market that may hamper the performance as stated by you however a true acidifier containing selected organic acids (No inorganic acids) are able to replace the AGP if used continuously through water as well as feed. Several research study have determined that water acidification of poultry is beneficial to feed efficiency, nutrient availability, health & well-being of poultry. Thanks for providing us a valuable article.

Dear Ganesh Kumar Thanks for your valuable comments. You are exactly right. The water acidification positive has points for growth and health of chicken. Acidic pH is good for birds. Some litreature reveals that if we make water pH very low sometimes the growth is retarted. You have explained in details with athentic references, so I agree with you. In my experience we have seen good results with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0. I am greatful for your participation and valuable discussion. Kindly inform about your experience in your area at which pH the birds perform well? I will repeat my question for my knowledge that If we remove all the minerals from poultry drinking water (through reverse osmosis) can this water be used for poultry? With higest regards Dr. Munawar Ali

Dear Dr.Munawar Ali, Thanks for agreement with me that low pH water achieved by adding true acidifier is beneficial for poultry. In Nepal as well as most of the region of India & Bhutan where water pH is more than 8 poultry farmers have achieved better performance of broilers as well as layers including breeders also when they have maintained pH in between 4.5 to 5.5 by using acidified water as well as acidified feed. By using good acidifier products in water as well as in feed, most of the farmers have confidently replaced AGP used conventionally earlier and achieved following benefit: • Reduced bacterial load in water. • Control over growth & multiplication of pathogenic bacteria in GI tract. • Acid hydrolysis of feeds in GI tract aids digestion of nutrients. • Increased size of villi-helps better absorption of nutrients. • Acidification favours growth of acidophilus bacterial flora. • Reduced moisture & ammonia in litter. I also take this opportunity to supplement my views regarding your query on whether we should use water filtered through Reverse Osmosis (RO) process for poultry or not? As we are aware that nature has given us water containing minerals with purpose because minerals are vital for functioning of human/animal body efficiently. But due to environment pollution, water source get contaminated hence need of filtration/purification of water. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a filtration method that removes many types of large molecules & ions from water solution and also restrictive to bacteria & disease causing pathogens. RO is most commonly used for drinking water purification from seawater, removing salt & other substances from the water molecule. The Reverse Osmosis (RO) process has several downsides which make it an inefficient & ineffective means of purifying drinking water for poultry industry: • RO blocks particles of large molecular structure like salt, but more dangerous chemicals like pesticides, herbicides & chlorine are molecularly smaller than water (Binnie et al. 2002) can freely pass through this process. • RO also removes healthy, naturally occurring minerals in water. These minerals not only provide a good taste to water but they also serve a vital function in the body system. • Water, when stripped of these trace minerals, can actually be unhealthy for the body. • RO also wastes a large portion of water that runs through its system. It generally wastes two to three gallons of water for every gallon of purified water it produces. • RO is also an incredibly slow process when compared to other water treatment alternatives. Keeping in mind the above pros & cons of RO, we should not recommend RO water for poultry industries. Thanks once again for giving me an opportunity to express my views.

Dear Ganesh Kumar Thanks for detailed answer. Many poultry growers take benefit from your explaination. Best regards Dr. Munawar Ali

It is the most valuable article by dr. Munawar which will be provided the information of all aspects of this most important ingredient. I really appreciate him to provide a nice material which is the life line of all living organisms.

Dear Dr. Munawar Ali, We are going to instal a new RO plant for commercial broilers (going to be rare in control house system) in our company own land which is having brakish ground water ( due to location of seaside).Total dissolved solid is about 2628ppm and total hardness as CaCO3 is 540ppm, Chloride is 830ppm, salinity 2ppm and PH @ 25C is 7.17. Average production capasity of water should be 1,00000L and storage water capasity should be 80000L. I hope your profesional advise on that because we dont have another option for drinking water purpose for our operation k You