Quality of Drinking Water Used for Livestock and Poultry in Karur District of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Water is a vital nutrient needed for sustaining life and to optimize the milk production, growth and reproduction in livestock. Water constitutes about 60 - 80 % of live weight of livestock depending upon the age, fat cover and physiological functions (Schlink et al., 2010). Approximately one third of the world’s population use ground water for drinking purpose (UNEP, 1999). The ground water in most areas are polluted due to excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, increased human activities, rapid growth of industries as well as improper disposal of manure and waste water (Sharada and Yasovardhanm, 2013). Karur district of Tamil Nadu is located at 10^о57’ N78 ^о 05’E /10.95^о N 78 ^о 08’E. It has average elevation of 122 m (400ft).  Utilization of land area is up to 44.59%. Black soil is the predominant soil type (35.5 %) in this district followed by lateritic soil (23.85%) and alluvium soil (20.31%). Cattle, sheep, goats and poultry are the major livestock species reared in this district. Livestock mostly obtain their drinking water from open, bore wells, ponds and river. Consumption of polluted water may result in decreased performance of animals (CPCB, 2007).  Poor quality water is not palatable and animal do not accept it readily which results in low water and feed intake, low feed conversion ratio ultimately decreased growth and production, poor performance and non - specific diseases conditions (Sajid Umar et al, 2014). In this present study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the quality of bore well water used for drinking purpose in livestock and poultry farms.