THE EFFECT OF MAGNETIC TREATMENT OF DRINKING-WATER ON GROWTH, FEED-UTILIZATION AND CARCASS COMPOSITION OF LAMBS

In Experiment 1 the drinking water of finishing lambs offered dry diet s was either untreated, or treated with an electromagnetic device at s tandard or high level magnetisation. The water supply had total hardne ss and alkalinity concentrations of 236 mg l-1 and 207 mg l-1, respect ively, expressed as calcium carbonate. In Experiment 2 the drinking wa ter of finishing lambs was either untreated or treated with an electro magnetic device with and without water recirculation, or a permanent m agnet with water recirculation. The water supply had total hardness an d alkalinity contents of 332 mg l-1 and 251 mg l-1, respectively, expr essed as calcium carbonate. The results from both experiments showed t hat magnetic treatment of water tended to reduce food intake, depress the rate of carcass gain and give less efficient conversion of food to carcass gain. In addition, magnetic treatment in the first experiment appeared to increase both the depth of subcutaneous fat and the conce ntration of chemical lipid in the carcass. It is concluded that under the conditions of the present study, with sources of water which were relatively high in total hardness and a range of magnetic systems, mag netic treatment of drinking water tended to have adverse effects on la mb performance. It is also concluded that the magnetic devices did not produce any improvements in performance or carcass composition of fin ishing lambs under the present experimental conditions.