Practical solutions for water quality issues -ater availability and disease transmission

摘要

Water is the most important nutrient for the overall health and performance of commercial broilers. It plays an essential role in every aspect of metabolism and is critical to the regulation of the bird's body temperature, food digestion, and waste elimination. By weight, broilers consume almost twice as much water as feed. Although the necessity of providing a plentiful supply and sufficient access is well understood, the importance of water quality on performance is often misunderstood or neglected. Providing a clean and safe water supply is critical to ensuring that broilers perform at their best. Water quality takes on an increasingly valuable role as public concern over antibiotic use in animal feed shifts the poultry industry away from the useof antibiotics. Numerous factors, including equipment, management practices, house environment, andhousing type play a role in broiler performance, but water quality may be one of the most critical and least appreciated.