Date of Graduation

5-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Poultry Science

Advisor/Mentor

Watkins, Susan

Committee Member/Reader

Anthony, Nicholas

Committee Member/Second Reader

Rochell, Samuel

Abstract

Passing water through a magnetic field has been shown to have positive effects in agricultural activities such as crops, cattle and poultry production (Ali, Samaneh and Kavakebian, 2014). Several experiments performed in Middle Eastern countries have evaluated the effect of magnetizing drinking water on poultry performance, but results are inconsistent. The current project was conducted to evaluate the effect of magnetizing the drinking water on key aspects of poultry production such as Feed Conversion Ratio, Body Weight Gain, Feed Intake and Livability. Four hundred and forty-nine male Cobb-500 chicks were randomly placed in 6 replicate pens for each of 3 treatments (25 chicks per replicate pen). The treatments were T1 (Control-non-magnetized water), T2 (water magnetized with large N52 magnet at a distance greater than 15 feet from consumption point) and T3 (water magnetized with individual small N52 Magnet less than one foot from water consumption point). The drinking water was continuously exposed to an 1850 gauss magnetic field for both treatments. Birds and feed were weighed weekly from day 0 to 42. No significant improvements were observed for any of the parameters measured for either treatments as compared to the performance of birds consuming the untreated water. Results indicate that magnetizing the water for broiler chickens receiving a dietary regimen which meets their nutritional requirements was not beneficial.

Keywords

Broilers; Magnets and water; gauss; water consumption; magnetic field; broiler nutrition

Download

Share

COinS