Chemical examination of 27 water samples collected from poultry farms at Alexandria Province were done, 8 samples exceeded the permissible limits of chloride content.
Chicks from one day old until 28 days of age were allowed to receive various levels of chloride in water. The results indicated that excessive chloride levels leads to ascitis in poultry as a predisposing factor. 14 ascitic fluid were examined bacteriologically for the presence of E. coli and revealed the percentage of E. coli at a rate of 100%. Only 4 isolates proved to be pathogenic and belonging to 0:114 (one) and 0:1-8 (Three). So, water of poultry farms must be examined periodically.