Applied research note: Understanding varying levels of hydrogen peroxide residuals in poultry drinking water in early broiler growth performance

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) based products are used to sanitize poultry drinking water supplies; however, the effects of their higher residual levels on broiler performance remain unstudied. This study investigated the effects of different residual peroxide concentrations in drinking water on early broiler growth and amino acid (AA) digestibility. A total of 100 Cobb 500 male chicks reared on a corn–soy starter diet from d 0 to 13 were assigned to 5 treatment groups. Four stock solutions were prepared by mixing the H₂O₂ product with water at the following ratios: T1 (2:32), T2 (4:32), T3 (8:32), and T4 (16:32); and 1 mL of each stock solution was diluted with 100 mL of drinking water to create the drinking water treatments. The initial H₂O₂ residual concentrations in drinking water were approximately 17.6 ppm for T1, 33.3 ppm for T2, 60 ppm for T3, and 100 ppm for T4. After 24 h, the residuals dropped to approximately <10 ppm in T1, <30 ppm in T2, <50 ppm in T3, and remained ≤90 ppm in T4. Municipal water free of H₂O₂ and Cl served as the control (CON). Growth performances, AA digestibility, and water intake (WI) were recorded for treatment groups. The treated groups (T2 & T4) showed a higher body weight gain (BWG) and a lower FCR compared to the CON (P < 0.05). Additionally, the digestibility of essential (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine) and non-essential (alanine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, tyrosine) amino acids improved with these treatments. Results showed that all the tested levels of H₂O₂ residuals in drinking water (up to 100 ppm) can be safely used for sanitizing poultry drinking water supplies without compromising amino acid digestibility or early bird performance.