ISSN : 2663-2187

MICROBIAL QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER USED IN POULTRY FARMS OF LAHORE

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Hafiz Umair Asif, Basit ali khan, Muhammad Mujahid, Iram Aslam, Raheela Sarwar, Laiba Abdul Manan, Sughra Yasin, Haseeb Khaliq, Mariam Munir, Abdul Wahab, Sudhair Abbas Bangash
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.7.1.2025.791-810

Abstract

Water is the core of any poultry business because it is the medium through which birds are given nutrients and even vaccines. Any contamination in water means the whole flock will be under the threat of disease outbreak or stress at least. This study aimed to assess the presence of any kind of coliform bacteria in water sources at poultry farms in Lahore. Water samples were taken from controlled broiler farms, layer forms, and semi controlled farms. These samples were carefully transported to the Department of Microbiology, University of Veterinary Sciences, Lahore for analysis. The two methods used in this study to analyze the water samples were the Viable Count (VC) Method and the Most Probable Number (MPN) method. The coliform bacteria which were focused in this study were salmonella and E. coli. A total of a hundred samples (n=100, controlled broiler farms n=50, layer farms n=32, semi-controlled farms n=18) were taken from farms. The overall rate of contaminated samples was observed at 30%(30/100). All these (30/100) samples have a higher colony-forming unit count than the 100 CFU/ml limit. A total of 32% (16/50) positive samples were observed in broiler farms water samples. The rate of positive coliform water samples in a layer farm sample was observed at 37.5% (12/32). Whereas, 33.3% (6/18) positive samples were observed in semi controlled farms. All samples that showed positive results in the initial results were grown on EMB agar to confirm the presumptive test results. The study indicates that fecal contamination is happening to water sources being used in poultry farm operations at an alarming rate. The current study can be used as a baseline study for adaptation of better farm management practices to reduce the contamination of coliform Bacteria for poultry and indirectly for public health concerns.

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