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Context: Heavy metals are native to various soils, dusts, air, sediments, water and plant constituent in various means and these relations quantify their mobility and availability. In this manuscript, the seasonal differences in contents of arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead and zinc in well water within the proximity of three main chicken farms in Osun State, were studied to ascertain the ecological impacts of the chicken farming on the well water sources. Water samples taken for eight months were assayed for pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, alkalinity and speciation of heavy metal contents utilizing standard techniques. A column filled up with Amberlite XAD-16 resin was utilized for the quantification of metals bound to humic substances and free metal ions in the water samples. The samples were assayed for their heavy metal content utilizing Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Quality assurance techniques involved blank determination, recovery analysis and calibration of standards. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data interpretations. The content ranges of the metals were: 0.0110–0.0878, 0.0130–0.0900, 0.1124–0.5196, 17.0563-59.4264, 0.021-0.2283 and 3.0420–21.1450 µg/mL for As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn, respectively. With the exception of Cu, the content ranges of all the other metals were present to be exceeded the international standards and acceptable level for drinkable water. The speciation analyzes signified that Fe and Zn were present primarily in the particulate phase, As and Cu were predominant in the humic substances phase, while Cd, Fe, Pb and Zn mainly found in the free metal ions. The free metal ions phase of Cd, Fe, Pb and Zn were found to be bio-available, and thus, could present health risks to humans and poultry bird. The contents found from the control site signified that the chicken farm activities might have impacted the well water with high heavy metal burdens.
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