Added benefit of water acidification in poultry farming

Organic acids are commonly added to poultry drinking water to improve gut health, nutrient digestion and overall performance. Photo: Bart Nijs

In today’s era of antibiotic-free poultry production, feed and water additives provide producers with an alternative method to improve poultry health and performance. However, regardless of the benefits an additive might provide, it’s crucial to ask, ‘What is the payoff?’.

Organic acids are commonly added to poultry drinking water to improve gut health, nutrient digestion and overall performance. However, with rising production costs, some producers have completely stopped using water acidifiers while others have scaled back, applying them less frequently. Others continue to use acidifiers throughout the entire production cycle. How do these different approaches impact the birds’ performance and, consequently, the producers’ fortunes?

A recent study presented at the International Poultry Science Forum delved into these questions, focusing on the return on investment of different water acidification strategies using a blend of free and buffered organic acids (Selko AlpHa (SWA), Trouw Nutrition, the Netherlands). In the study, 969 broiler chicks were allocated to 3 treatments including a group without acidification (control), another group receiving SWA applied during all 5 weeks of production, 24/7 (continuous acidification), and a third group receiving SWA 6 hours per day at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 5 of production (partial acidification). All birds received a common corn-soy basal diet without antibiotics in 2 feeding phases over 35 days.

Continuous and partial water acidification

The results of the study show that in contrast to the control group, the continuous and partial acidification with SWA significantly improved the final body weight, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio of broilers (Table 1). In addition, both acidification strategies considerably increased the economics of broilers. In continuous acidification, the net return per broiler was €0.17 (ROI 13.3), while in partial acidification, the net return was €0.12 (ROI 12.4).

Interestingly, although partial acidification required a lower initial investment, the continuous application of SWA provided a higher return on investment (€0.05 per broiler). This suggests that continuous acidification throughout the production cycle is economically more profitable than a partial acidification strategy.

As producers strive to maintain performance and manage costs, the study underscores the potential economic benefits of continuous water acidification using organic acids in broiler production. This water acidifier not only supports bird health and productivity but also contributes positively to the farm’s financial outcomes.