Water is an important dietary requirement for poultry.

• Under normal conditions poultry will consume about twice as much water as food.
• Water is not only a nutrient. It also softens food and carries it through the body.
• It aids in digestion and absorption.
• It cools the body as it evaporates through the birds’ lungs and air sacs.
• It lubricates joints.
• Water helps remove waste.
• It is a major component of blood and a necessary medium for many chemical reactions that help to from meat and eggs.
• Poor water quality can retard growth, curtail egg production, or produce lower egg quality
• Feed conversions are positively correlated to the presence of sulfate and copper concentrations in the water, and livability with potassium, chloride, and calcium.
• Body weight is positively influenced by water hardness and dissolved oxygen and negatively influenced by total bacteria.