Abstract

Water is an essential nutrient in animal nutrition, makes about 70 to 80% of lean body mass and plays important roles in poultry metabolism and thermal homeostasis. Water provided as drinking water constitutes the largest proportion of water available to poultry followed by metabolic water and that available in feed. The intake of water by birds varies depending on the age, environmental temperature, relative humidity, certain diet constituents, type of drinkers used and rate of growth. An increase in environmental temperature tends to cause an increase in water intake while decrease in environmental temperature causes decrease in water intake. Hence, in addition to its nutritional role, water is more important for thermoregulation in chickens especially under hot conditions.

Highlights

  • Water is the most abundant and widely distributed chemical compound in the world [1]

  • The use of drinking water with high physical, chemical and microbiological qualities is vital in poultry production as one single water source serves several birds

  • Drinking water constitutes the greatest source of water to poultry and it is made available in drinkers [1]

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Summary

Introduction

Water is the most abundant and widely distributed chemical compound in the world [1]. The use of drinking water with high physical, chemical and microbiological qualities is vital in poultry production as one single water source serves several birds. Birds consume approximately 1.6–2.0 times as much water as feed on a weight basis [7]; any deviation in water quality could have more pronounced effect on poultry health and production than feed [7, 8]. Water is an essential nutrient in animal nutrition and plays roles in poultry metabolism including thermal homeostasis [9], food digestion and absorption, nutrients transport, and waste products elimination from the body [10]. It makes up 70 to 80% of lean body mass by weight in birds [11–13]

Drinking water
Metabolic water
Factors affecting water intake
Effects of environmental temperature on water intake
Findings
Conclusion
Full Text
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