Water as a critical nutrient in maintenance of poultry health and its role in production performance

The use of drinking water with adequate physical, chemical and microbiological quality in the poultry industry is of fundamental importance. Since many birds have access to the same water source, any quality problems will affect large number of birds. The drinking water plays an important role in the transmission of some bacterial, viral and protozoan diseases that are among the most common poultry diseases. Water is a major component of blood and plays an important role in transporting nutrients to the cells and carrying waste away. Chicken body consists of 70% water; a loss of only 10 percent of that water will result in the bird’s death. It plays a pivotal role in body temperature regulation, digestion of food and elimination of waste materials. Numerous factors, like, genetics, feeding, healthcare, management practices, house environment, and housing type play a role in broiler performance, but water quality may be one of the most critical and often ignored. To keep the poultry flocks healthy adequate quality and quantity of potable water should be provided throughout the rearing period.