Water consumption of broiler chickens under commercial conditions

Abstract

The daily water consumption of twenty-four flocks of commercial broiler chickens was measured (average = 19,757 birds/flock). Broilers were raised in two houses--a conventional, open, automatic side-curtained house and a totally enclosed, power-ventilated house on the same premises. Commercially available strains were used and various feed additives were compared during the trials. Water:feed consumption ratios averaged 1.77 g/g. Water consumption was a linear function of broiler age (R2 greater than .99). It could be predicted by multiplying 5.28 g times the broiler's age (5.1 g for birds slaughtered in the cooler times of the year or 5.7 for those slaughtered in the warmest months). Housing type had no effect on water consumption. Increasing dietary sodium increased water consumption, although its effect could not be clearly discerned statistically from that of female parent genotype. It is suggested that 5.28 ml/bird/day of age is a good method of predicting the water consumption of broiler chickens.