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The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed

Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2019.

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Other Authors: Jansen van Rensburg, Christine
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Jansen van Rensburg, Christine
author_browse Jansen van Rensburg, Christine
author_facet Jansen van Rensburg, Christine
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2019.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:35.948Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/77898 The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed Jansen van Rensburg, Christine u19940712@tuks.co.za Crots, Franscois Westergaard, Kyle Justin UCTD Antibiotic alternatives Animal health Nutrition and well-being Poultry productivity Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02 Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-03 Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12 Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2019. Alternatives to antibiotics are constantly being studied and one such alternative is organic acids. Organic acids can lower the pH in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and the lowered pH renders the environment unfavourable to pathogenic bacteria, thus resulting in a healthier GIT. This can enhance nutrient digestion, absorption and utilisation, as well as enhanced growth and efficiency of the bird. The main objective of this study was to assess the optimal drinking water pH for broilers and what effects it would exhibit on the GIT. The second part of this study was to compare water acidification and feed acidification, as well as a combination thereof. Two different feeds and five different water pH levels were fed to 7200 Ross 308 broilers, randomly allocated to 120 pens, with 12 replicates per treatment and 60 birds per pen. Feed 1 was considered as ‘standard’ and feed 2 was considered as ‘acidified’, containing 0.3% FORMI® (ADDCON 40% formic acid product). The five water pH levels tested were 3.0, 3.8, 5.5, 6.5 and tap water (pH of 7.9). Broiler performance and pH in various GIT segments were measured weekly. The standard feed performed better than the acidified feed, irrespective of water pH. Standard feed resulted in significantly greater bodyweight (BW) and European performance efficiency factor (PEF) at weekly weighing intervals from 7-35 days, as well as significantly lower feed intakes (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR).The different water pH levels used throughout the trial showed clear trends and significant differences amongst the various treatments, irrespective of the feed used. Any level of drinking water acidification proved better than no acidification, with significantly higher BW and PEF on majority of the recordings, as well as significantly lower FCR and FI. Water intake was significantly higher for a water pH of 3.8 when compared to a pH of 7.9. When comparing the different drinking water pH levels across the two feeds, broiler performance always favoured the standard feed. Mortality was not significantly different and GIT pH was highly variable, showing no clear trends. This study suggests that feed acidification is not as effective as water acidification and that a lower drinking water pH can significantly improve economically important measurements, such as BW and FCR. It can also be concluded that the effects exhibited on the pH of various GIT segments cannot be predicted. Based on this study, there is no clear benefit to combining feed and water acidification and a drinking water pH of 3.0 – 3.8 is recommended. bs2026 Animal and Wildlife Sciences MSc (Agric) Unrestricted SDG-02: Zero hunger SDG-03: Good health and well-being SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production 2020-12-29T11:51:07Z 2020-12-29T11:51:07Z 2020/04/24 2019 Dissertation Westergaard, KJ 2019, The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed, MSc (Agric) Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77898> A2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77898 en © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Antibiotic alternatives
Animal health
Nutrition and well-being
Poultry productivity
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-03
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12
The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title_full The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title_fullStr The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title_full_unstemmed The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title_short The response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
title_sort response of broilers to acidification of drinking water and feed
topic UCTD
Antibiotic alternatives
Animal health
Nutrition and well-being
Poultry productivity
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-03
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77898