Commercial Poultry Production and Hatchery Management

Quality guidelines for drinking water in poultry farms

QUALITY GUIDELINES FOR DRINKING WATER ON POULTRY FARMS

The desirable quality guidelines for drinking water on poultry farms are as follows:

• Total hardness : 60-180
• pH : 6.8-7.5
• Nitrate : 10 mg/litre
• Nitrite : 0.4 mg/litre
• Total bacterial count : 0/ml
• Coliform count : 0/ml
• Calcium chloride : 60 mg/litre
• Sodium : 50 mg/litre
• Sulphate : 125 mg/litre 
• The removal of excess dissolved minerals by cheaper and simpler methods is not practicable, and the farmer should change to other water sources in case of excess minerals in the water.
• Chlorination is the best and cheapest method to get rid of micro-organisms.
• Five to eight grams of bleaching powder with about 35 percent available chlorine should be added to 1000 litres of drinking water to maintain a chlorine level of 1 to 2 ppm at delivery.
• A minimum contact time of one hour should be given before offering the water to birds. Where storage facilities are not available, liquid chlorine preparations like chlorine dioxide, 5 percent sodium hypochlorite (sanitech), etc., may be used at a level of one ml per 10 litres of water.
• Iodophores containing 1.6 percent available iodine are also used as water sanitizers at the same dosage level.
• Products containing Quarterinary ammonium compounds like quat, quatovet, encivet, sokrena etc. may be used as water sanitizers as per the manufacturers’ specifications.
• By providing sanitized water to the birds, the chance of water-borne infections is reduced and the cost of medication is saved.
• The life of pipelines and storage tanks is also increased, and the overall growth of the birds and egg production efficiency will be improved.