Effect of Water Quality and Vitamin C on the Growth Performance and Haematological Parameters of Broiler Chickens

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of varying water quality with and without vitamin C on the growth performance and some haematological parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 252 one day old, unsexed chicks of broiler chickens (ROSS 308), average body weight 42 g were used in this study. For 35 days, the chicks were divided into 7 treatments (each treatment thirty six chicks), with 3 replicate per each (twelve chicks per replicate). The first group drank reverse osmosis (R.O) without any addition containing 28.16 total dissolved solids mg.l-1 (TDS), whereas the second, third and fourth groups (Safwan, Qurna and Fao tap water) drank water containing 1849.6, 1452.8 and 1356.8 TDS mg.l-1 respectively. The fifth, sixth and seventh group drank water containing 1849.6, 1452.8 and 1356.8 TDS mg.l-1 with 100 mg.l-1 vitamin C respectively. The highest body weight, weight gain, feed intake and the better feed conversion ratio were observed at the seventh group. The highest cumulative water intake was observed at the second, third and fourth groups. Higher red blood cells (RBC), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cells volume (PCV) and lymphocytes ratio were recorded at the seventh group. Higher heterophils and heterophils/lymphocytes ratio were observed at the second group. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were not affected by different water quality. It can be concluded that the increase of TDS in the drinking water to 1849.6 mg.l-1 led to a decline in the growth performance and haematological parameters, while the addition of vitamin C (100 mg.l-1) improved the growth parameters and physiological status of broilers.