Relationship of Mineral Content of Drinking Water to Liver Lipid Accumulation in Laying Hens

Abstract

Fifteen poultry experiment stations in the United States were classified either positive or negative with respect to ease of producing fatty livers in laying hens, and water samples from these laboratories were analyzed for several mineral elements by plasma emission spectroscopy. Significantly more calcium and cobalt (P < 0.05) and magnesium, manganese, nickel and lead (P < 0.10) were found in samples from laboratories classified positively for ease of producing fatty livers.Water from one South Georgia farm with a history of fatty liver syndrome or from the University of Georgia (U.GA.) farm which has a low incidence of fatty liver syndrome was given to laying hens housed in floor pens or cages for an 8-week period. Little difference was observed in performance of the hens and no significant difference was observed in liver weight and lipid content of the liver dry matter. There was no significant difference in liver weight and lipid content at 29 and 34 weeks of pullets reared from day of age on the two sources of water.Egg production, liver weight and liver lipid content of hens given U.GA. water with 100 p.p.m. calcium (as CaCl2) and 50 p.p.m. magnesium (as MgCl2) for eight weeks did not differ significantly from hens given U.GA. water without the added elements. Results of the four experiments with laying hens directly comparing sources of water differing in mineral content do not support the hypothesis that excess liver lipid accumulation is associated with water hardness.