Effects of Varying Free Chlorine Residuals in Poultry Drinking Water on Early Performance and Amino Acids Digestibility of Broiler Chickens

Rabin Raut, Biswajit Biswas, Bharat Pokharel, Tom Tabler, Samuel Nahashon and Pramir Maharjan

Background and Objective: Chlorine is a commonly utilized poultry drinking water sanitizer; however, little is known about the impact of varying usage levels on bird performance. This study was conducted to understand the performance impacts of various levels of field-practiced chlorine-based product (8.25% sodium hypochlorite) in poultry drinking water. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 Cobb 500 byproduct males were fed a standard experimental diet from day 0-11. Five treatment groups (20 birds/treatment) were created based on chlorine-product dosage levels in drinking water that mimicked field practice and above-the-field practice levels: No product treatment (T1), treatments with product concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 mL per 25 mL of drinking water (T2-T5) and stock mixed at 1:100 with drinking water. T4 and T5 represented mixing rates above field practice levels for poultry drinking water supplies that produced free chlorine residuals in water up to 21 ppm immediately after mixing. The average free chlorine residual retained in ppm until 24 hrs were 0.25, 0.42, 0.67 and 0.83 (p>0.05). Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results: No significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in body weight gain among the treatment groups. Water consumption was not different among treatment groups (p>0.05), however, improved FCR (0.94) was noted in chickens fed with the T3 group (p<0.05). Conclusion: There were no differences (p>0.05) in the apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids across treatments, ranging from 0.44-0.93. None of the other treatment groups for various mixing rates of chlorine produced adverse effects on bird performance except for T5.

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