Poultry Water Management and the Role of Water pH
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Water
management for poultry operations is a subject of much conversation between
growers, veterinarians and live production personnel. The usage of water
acidification as a preventive or treatment tool for disease management or to
improve bird performance is probably one of the most poorly understood areas of
poultry husbandry. This stems partly from the fact that until recently, no
controlled research had been done investigating the preferred pH for poultry
water consumption. Water acidification protocols for the prevention or
management of certain bacterial diseases had been developed, but in many
instances required a drinking water pH at bird level of 4.0 or below to be
effective. Due to the lack of solid information on what type of water turkeys
and chickens preferred, many within the industry were reluctant to acidify the
drinking water to those biologically effective low levels. A high-pH crop
environment (pH greater than 7.0) favors microflora that can hurt poultry
performance. Poultry water treatment through acidification of the drinking
water acidifies the crop, thereby encouraging the growth of favorable
microflora while discouraging microflora that can harm intestinal integrity and
function. Water acidification is most critical during the establishment of
intestinal microflora and at each feed change when nutrient shifts can create
instability in the normal intestinal microflora ecology. Using an animal feed
grade mineral acid such as sodium bisulfate (PWT® water
acidifier, Jones-Hamilton Co.) to reduce the pH of drinking water to 4.0 during
the critical periods of intestinal development helps the birds maintain the
stability of intestinal microflora throughout the growing period. The
establishment and maintenance of healthy intestinal microflora improves live
production performance and cost.
How Crop Acidification Works
The reduction of Salmonella, Staph and
Clostridium at the farm level focuses on creating a hostile environment to
reduce horizontal spread from bird to bird and to reinforce the bird’s natural
protection mechanisms. This is most critical when the birds are first placed
into the house, when they are moved into the whole house or to the growout
barn, and when they are withdrawn from feed.
Acidifying drinking water for poultry
with sodium bisulfate for the first seven days of life provides a second layer
of protection to the lactic acid producing bacteria (LAPBs) that are part of
the crop’s normal ecology. This helps the newly hatched poult to maintain a low
crop pH until it has established its own population of stable LAPBs. A low crop
pH reduces the number of Salmonella or Clostridium that pass farther along the
digestive tract and enables the bird to colonize with normal gut flora first.
Once the crop’s LAPB population has been established, the bird will be able to
maintain a low crop pH on its own as long as feed is available. When feed is
withdrawn or turkeys are not eating for any reason, the normal population of
LAPBs dies off and Salmonella will multiply in the crop. Acidifying the
drinking water to a pH of 3.5 or below during times when feed is not available
will prevent the crop pH from becoming too high.
Necessary Characteristics to
Acidify Water without Affecting Consumption
A target pH of 3.5-4.0 is critical for
bacterial control programs to work. Therefore, it is important to choose a
mineral acid that birds will drink readily at that low pH. If the birds refuse
to drink the water at the proper pH for crop acidification, the program will
not work.
PWT® water acidifier is
the first FDA approved feed grade mineral acid water treatment available to the
poultry industry. Due to the unique chemistry of PWT®, the
consumption of treated water is not decreased at higher concentrations as has
been reported for organic acids. This advantage gives producers the flexibility
for administration in a wide range of applications in all livestock and poultry
species. All of the acids currently marketed to the poultry industry are weak
organic acids, i.e. citric, acetic, lactic, that have poor taste profiles and
limited pH reducing capabilities. Because PWT® has a low pKa,
it has a cleaner taste profile and profound acidification properties that
should overcome all of the issues of using the weak organic acids.
An organic acid is an acid that has
carbon in it such as lactic, acetic (vinegar) or proprionic acids. Organic
acids are often characterized as being sour due to their pKa being above the
solution pH (a lazy acid). Some suggest that organic acids will work
anyway at a high pH but research on bacterial killing ability shows that final
pH is the determining factor and not organic acid concentration. Field
experience seems to support this as the final pH at bird level seems to be the
determining factor of efficacy rather than organic acid concentration.
The ability to significantly reduce
water pH without impacting water consumption is also of great advantage in
cleaning water lines during the flock. The periodic cleaning of water lines
with birds in the house is very desirable especially in areas with high levels
of iron in the water. The use of organic acids to clean the water lines with
birds in the house results in decreased water consumption during the cleaning
period. With PWT® water acidifier, the lines can be cleaned
frequently without negatively impacting bird health or performance. In most
houses a shift in pH is sufficient to clean the lines. In houses with iron
water, the pH of the water at bird level should be a 4.0 or less during
cleaning in order to reduce the negative impact of the iron content.
Finally, it is critical to use an animal
feed grade or human food grade acid in the drinking water. Industrial
grade liquid acids are not approved by FDA for animal consumption. PWT® water
acidifier contains Sodium Bisulfate Animal Feed Grade and is produced under the
guidelines for “Manufacturing, Packaging and Distribution of Animal Feeds and
Feed Ingredients.” It is produced in a manner that assures the quality required
for consumption by food-producing animals and meets requirements that are
necessary to minimize the potential for contamination. PWT® is
approved by the FDA for use in animal feed and water.
