Effect of Acidified Drinking Water by Organic Acids on Broiler Performance and Gut Health

The usage of organic acids (OAs) in poultry industry as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters has been functioning since 2006 The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of prolonged usage of single or mixture of different OAs to acidify the drinking water and monitor their effect on the broiler growth performance, water consumption, feed conversion and intestinal histomorphology. A total of 450 commercial broiler chicks (Arbor acres breed) were randomly divided into nine main groups (50 birds/each). Our results revealed that during the entire growth period, the water was supplemented with acidified water with a pH range between 2.7- 3.7 that showed best performance results. All broilers which given acidified water showed significant improvement in final body weight (P ≤ 0.05), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and villus high: crypt depth ratio (V:C ratio) for the intestinal mucosa compared to non-treated control group (negative control). On the other hand, broiler chicks that supplied with acidified water including formic acid (pH 2.5) revealed significant reduction in all tested parameters (P≤ 0.05) however, water consumption was not affected by lowering the pH in all groups. In conclusions, our findings showed that continuous supplementation of both single and mixture of organic acids can improve the broiler growth performance.