July 15, 2009

Water is vital in a broiler farmer's efforts to keep birds hydrated and comfortable during hot weather, according to results of US field trials.

 

A broiler will drink about two litres of water for every kg of feed consumed. While bird water consumption is fairly easy to predict, predicting evaporative cooling system water usage is much more difficult, as it depends on several factors. These include the type of evaporative cooling system used, the amount of air being cooled, the set temperature of the system, outside temperature, and relative humidity.

 

As a result, the amount of water used to keep the birds cool during the summer months can vary significantly not only from farm to farm, but flock to flock, and hour to hour.

 

From field trials in the US, it becomes clear that when looked at the total amount of water used by a broiler house over the course of a year, the amount of water used by the evaporative cooling system is small in proportion to the amount of water consumed by the birds.

 

Without this additional water it would be very difficult to keep birds alive let alone productive during hot weather. The 20-percent increase in yearly water usage is considered a very good investment, when considering the extra costs involving bird loss, reduction in feed conversion and reduced weight gains which lead to longer grow outs.