ABSTRACT
Water is the most essential nutrient for production of poultry kept in confinement in commercial units and it must be provided in good physical, chemical and bacteriological quality. The present study was aimed at determining the quality of well-water used on the chicken farms of the Bastos couty. Samples of well-water were colleted from 20 chicken farms, during the dry and the rainy season. The analysis of aluminum, calcium, lead, chlorine, copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, nitrate, nitrite, potassium, selenium, sodium sulfate and zinc, showed levels under of the acceptable concentrations for drinking water for laying hens. The pH exam detected that 45% of the well-water samples were below 6, while 35% of the laying hens farms showed values of water handness above 60 mg CaCO3 /L, and in 50% of the laying-hen farms nitrate concentrations above 3 mg/L were detected. The results of the total-coliforms exams showed that 60% and 65% of the wells were positive in the rainy and dry season, respectively. The counting of fecal coliforms in the samples of well-water was positive in 60% of the samples.
KEY WORDS:
Water quality; laying hens; coliforms.