Effects of Well Water Sources on Performance of Laying Hens in Ile-Oluji of Ondo State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to survey the effect of well water sources on production of laying hens in selected poultry farms in Ile-Oluji, Ondo State, Nigeria. The study area was divided into three portions namely Agric. Village, Ajiferere and Temidire. Six (6) poultry farms with laying hens 45 weeks of age and of similar breed (ISA Brown) were sampled (2 Farms from each area). 200 laying hens were sampled from each farm making it a total of 1,200 hens managed in battery cage and on the same brand of commercial feed and similar other routine management practices. Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of four replicate (50 layers each x 4) per treatment (well water source) per farm was applied. Data was collected daily on hen day-production, feed intake, water intake and egg weight for seven (7) weeks, while water samples were collected and analyzed for chemical parameters. Chemical parameters (nitrite, sodium, sulphate, pH, chloride and total hardness) indicated significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) among the samples from different locations, but within the range recommended by (FAO), except, Ajiferere 1 (0.35mg/l ± 0.1) in nitrite content, with corresponding negatively affected 0n egg production (69.25 ± 0.88). Correlation analysis indicated that sodium (- 0.57) and nitrite (- 0.526) contents exhibited the first and second highest negative impacts on hen-day production respectively, while pH (-0.154) and chloride content (-0.338) exhibited the first and second least negative impact on hen-day production. Correlation value (0.328) between hen-day production and total hardness of water samples indicated positive, within the range of value. This value, perhaps, indicated that hen-day production increased positively with total hardness. It was concluded that there is a significant variation in the chemical parameters of well water as well as in the interaction of mineral content of water sources and hen-day production.