Evaluation of Magnetized Drinking Water on Carcass Yield and Performance of Broiler Chickens

Water is a vital component of animals and the main medium for biochemical reactions. Basically, water characteristics have a close relation to its molecular structure and it can be affected by external processing such as magnetic field. Some researches indicated that magnetized water resulted in better efficiency in agricultural products compared with the ordinary water. In animal husbandry, it has been reported that magnetized drinking water caused an increased production of milk, mutton, and wool in sheep and more weight gain in geese and egg production and hatchability in turkey. Several reports are available on the application of water magnetization including broiler production. However, some researchers reported that 500 Gauss magnetization for drinking water did not significantly affect performance of broiler chickens. The objective of this study was to scrutinize various aspects of magnetized drinking water in broiler chickens.
A total of 150 male Ross 308 day-old broiler chicks have been assessed in 3 treatments and 5 replicates with 10 birds each. Ordinary drinking water was considered as control group. One minute magnetized water was the second experimental treatment and three hours magnetized water was the third one. Magnetized water was produced by a commercial magnet namely AQUA CORRECT with 0.65 Tesla (6500 Gauss) magnetic field. Magnetization process for 30 liters of tap water has been done daily by magnetic apparatus. These types of water were offered daily to the birds during 42 days. Each pen (1 m2) was equipped with a manual feeder and a manual drinker, and the floor was covered with clean wood shavings. A corn-soybean meal based diet was formulated to meet or exceed the nutrient requirements of all broiler chickens as recommended by Ross 308 broiler rearing guidelines. Drinking water and mesh feed were offered ad libitum throughout the trial. Lighting was continuous, and the temperature was 32°C during the first week and then gradually decreased to 24°C by the end of the third week. Chicks were vaccinated for Infectious Bronchitis on day 4 and Newcastle Disease on 4, 11, and 20 day of age. All data were analyzed using the General Linear Model procedure of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Tukey’s Studentized Range (HSD) test was used to compare the means.
Magnetized water resulted in more water consumption throughout the trial; however, feed intake and body weight gain have been significantly increased in the third group just in the starter phase. Feed conversion ratio, mortality, European production efficiency factor and bioeconomic index were not affected by experimental treatments. Magnetized water significantly increased the relative gizzard weight at 21 and 41 d. Also, spleen weight increased at 21 d and pancreas decreased at 41 d, but the other carcass parts were not influenced by magnetized water.
All in all, magnetization of drinking water significantly influenced the broilers performance during starter phase and it seems that young chicks are more susceptible to magnetized water.