Raising Chickens for Water Efficiency Despite High Temperatures

The Problem

With a rise in population and in climate change, water is growing in scarcity. Water is also critical for chicken raising. Growers are faced with the challenge of maintaining healthy poultry growth in high temperatures while keeping water conservation in mind.

The Work

Researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station set out to use water-efficient chickens bred by Sara Orlowski, associate professor of poultry science, to investigate whether they could endure heat stress and still gain weight.

Sami Dridi, professor of poultry science specializing in avian endocrinology and molecular genetics, conducted the experiment. The high water-efficient chickens used are in the fifth generation of selection and bring a 32-point improvement in water conversion and six-point improvement in feed conservation in comparison to a control line. Researchers exposed them to heat stress and measured their water consumption in comparison to a control group. Loujain Aloui of the Higher School of Agriculture of Mograne at the University of Carthage in Zaghouan, Tunisia, served as the lead author of the paper on this work while on an internship with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Co-authors were Elizabeth S. Green, Travis Tabler, Kentu Lassiter, Walter Bottje, Dridi and Orlowski with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the Division of Agriculture and Kevin Thompson with the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics with the Division of Agriculture.

The Results

The study revealed that even with heat stress, the water-efficient chicken line continued to thrive with less water when compared to a control group. Researchers found a difference in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for thirst control, in these chickens. These differences in water efficiency, heat endurance and feed conversion translates to less food and water required to grow a bird. From the time they were hatched to one month old, the high water-efficient line drank 1.3 pounds less water, and about 5.7 ounces less feed. Modern chicken houses hold on average 20,000 to as many as 50,000 birds. Although chickens consume more as they grow, the difference for that month of growing equates to about 7,800 fewer gallons of water and 17,800 pounds less feed to grow 50,000 water-efficient chickens.

The Value

With chickens bred for conserving water and maintaining growth even under the stress of heat, growers will save thousands of gallons of water and thousands of pounds of food each month. Water efficiency in the high water-efficient line is improving with each new generation, and this development has the potential to expand with application to other poultry operations, such as turkeys and ducks.

The research was supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant awarded through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.