Water and feed consumption in broiler birds during a typical hot weather condition in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the variability in feed and water consumption in broiler birds during a typical hot weather condition in Akure, Nigeria. Feed and water consumption as well as air temperature and relative humidity were monitored and the relationship between them was analyzed. The results showed that the daily water and feeds consumption of the birds are very closely related and increase over the course of the grow out. Water and feed consumption were also observed to be a linear function of broiler's age; the birds were drinking 0.731 times of their age in kg of water and were eating 0.031 times their age of feed at any point in time. The result showed that under the prevailing environmental conditions, birds were consuming no less than 2.3 times more water than feed. The ratio of feed to water consumption is fairly constant over the life of the flocks. For this particular grow out the ratio of kilogram of water to kilogram of feed was 2.32 kg of water per kg of feed consumed. So whether a bird was a week old or seven weeks old, for every kilogram of feed eaten 2.32 kilogram of water was consumed. Ambient temperature was shown to have strongly influence the pattern of feed and water consumption indicated, high temperatures decreasing feed consumption and increasing water consumption.

Climatic Variation: Effects on Stress Levels, Feed Intake, and Bodyweight of Broilers

“…Particularly, protein digestion is hindered during chronic heat stress, leading to low feed intake (Larbier et al, 1993). When the temperature in above 32 °C, feed intake is reduced by 5% for each degree of temperature increase (Balogun et al, 2013).…”

Investigation into the Effects of Watering Device on Micro-Climate and Some Performance Parameters of Broilers Raised On Deep Litter System

“…This difference may be as a result of the birds in pen equipped with nipple drinker learning to master the art of drinking from the nipple. It has been established that there is a strong correlation between water and feed consumption [14] . However, for the remaining days the feed consumption in both cases were almost the same and increase with age [13] .…”

The Application of Taguchi-WSM, Taguchi-WPM and Taguchi-WASPAS Multicriteria Methods to Optimize Downtime in a Production Process

“…The position of Indonesia regarding the consumption of broiler gives abundant opportunity for the development of the animal feed industry in the country (Zahari and Wong, 2009;Haryo et al, 2017;Parmawati et al, 2018). The research on broiler/animal feed has evolved significantly (Manning et al, 2007;Balogun et al, 2013;Chehraghi et al, 2013;Salawu et al, 2014;Donma and Donma 2017). This phenomenon has been studied across several geographical domains such as the UK (Manning et al, 2007), Turkey (Donma and Donma, 2017), Iran (Chehraghi et al, 2013) and Nigeria (Balogun et al, 2013;Salawu et al, 2014).…”

“…The research on broiler/animal feed has evolved significantly (Manning et al, 2007;Balogun et al, 2013;Chehraghi et al, 2013;Salawu et al, 2014;Donma and Donma 2017). This phenomenon has been studied across several geographical domains such as the UK (Manning et al, 2007), Turkey (Donma and Donma, 2017), Iran (Chehraghi et al, 2013) and Nigeria (Balogun et al, 2013;Salawu et al, 2014). Interestingly, in the recent past, the Ministry of Agriculture in Indonesia declared a growing trend in the 2014 to 2017 values of consumption of broiler/broiler meat per capita (Rahmawan et al,2020).…”