Evaluation of leaves as a litter material

Effects of Salvinia as a broiler litter material on growth performance, behavior, welfare parameters, litter characters, and ammonia emission

The type of litter material has direct impacts on production, behavioral, and welfare parameters of broilers. The price of conventionally-used litter materials is increasing. Salvinia molesta is a fast-growing aquatic plant which has become an environmental issue in some areas. This study assessed the suitability of air-dried Salvinia plants (SAL) as an alternate litter material to paddy husk (PH). Resulting in a completely randomized experiment, a total of 240 broilers was raised in 12 floor-pens each provided with either PH or SAL as litter materials, from 11 to 36 d. Scan sampling technique was employed to record the birds' engagement in 15 predetermined behaviors. Foot pad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn damage (HBD) and plumage cleanliness (PC) were assessed using Welfare Quality Scoring System. Litter samples were analyzed for pH, dry matter%, water holding capacity, porosity, N%, tapped-density and ammonia emission rate. The litter material had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on mortality, growth performance parameters, dressing % and visceral organ weight. The scores for FPD and PC were unaffected by the litter materials. SAL litter reported significantly lower (P < 0.05) HBD scores. The percentages of birds engaged in eating and wing flapping behaviors were significantly lower on SAL. Litter type had no significant influence on the color, aroma, flavor, texture and overall acceptability of breast meat. Air-dried Salvinia plants reported acidic pH. SAL litter gave a significantly higher tapped-density. Ammonia emission rate of SAL litter was significantly lower than that of PH. However, the final litter N content was higher for PH (3.7%) than SAL (3.2%). The study proposes air-dried Salvinia plants as a litter material for broilers since it gives growth performance comparable to PH with reduced hock burn damage incidences. Effects of SAL on behavior and the fertilizer value of the spent litter are to be studied further.

Efficacy of pine leaves as an alternative bedding material for broiler chicks during summer season

Aim:

The aim was to assess the efficacy of pine leaves as an alternative bedding material on the performance of broiler chicks.

Materials and Methods:

The present study was conducted in summer. Total 120, day old Vencobb straight run chicks were procured, and after 5 days of brooding, chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups viz. paddy husk (Group I), paddy straw (Group II), pine leaves (Group III), and combination of paddy straw and pine leaves (Group IV), each having 30 chicks with 3 replicates of 10 chicks each. Chicks were reared under intensive conditions in houses that have a semi-controlled environment, with optimum temperature and adequate ventilation. Food and water were provided as per NRC (1994) requirement.

Results:

The average body weight after 6 weeks of the experiment was 2018.83±31.11, 1983.80±33.27, 2007.36±35.73, and 1938.43±36.35 g. The bedding type had no significant effect on the carcass characteristics viz. evisceration rate and proportion of cut-up parts of the carcass except giblet yield. The experiment suggested that performance of broiler chicks reared on paddy straw and pine leaves as litter material, had improved body weight and feed conversion ratio as compared to rearing on paddy husk as bedding material. Bacterial count, parasitic load and the N, P, K value of manure of different bedding material shows no significant difference.

Conclusion:

Pine leaves have a potential to be used as an alternative source of litter material to economize poultry production in a sustainable way, so as to make poultry farming as a profitable entrepreneur.

Evaluation of sludge from paper recycling as bedding material for broilers

Several materials have been used as bedding substrates in broiler production. In this work, the sludge from paper recycling was tested for its potential use as litter material and was compared with wood shavings. Moisture content, apparent density, and water-holding capacity were measured and characterized in both materials. Later, 192 male broiler chickens were distributed among 16 experimental pens, 8 of which contained wood shavings as bedding material and 8 of which contained the sludge. Growth rate, consumption, tonic immobility, gait score, breast lesions, foot pad dermatitis, hock burn, tibial dyschondroplasia, and metatarsal thickness were determined in the birds. Although the moisture content of the sludge was high, it decreased strongly after 7 d of drying, reaching lower values than those of wood shavings. In general, few differences were found between the materials in terms of bird performance and welfare and only the incidence of hock burn was higher in the sludge than in the wood shavings. Although further research is needed, sludge from paper recycling is a possible alternative to traditional bedding materials because it achieves most of the requirements for broiler bedding materials and does not show negative effects on the birds.

The Use of Refused Tea as Litter Material for Broiler Chickens

A completely randomized design experiment was conducted to determine the suitability of refused tea (RT) as a litter material for broiler chickens. Physiochemical properties of RT were compared with paddy husk (PH). Subsequently, broilers were raised on RT- or PH-based litter to compare the performances and litter qualities. Twenty-day-old broiler chicks (n = 150) were randomly allocated into 6 deep litter pens so that each treatment had 3 replicates. Chicks received 0.8 ft(2) of floor spacing until d 28 and 1.3 ft(2) thereafter. Each cage had a feeder and a drinker. Litter materials and litter samples taken on 28, 35, and 39 d were analyzed for bulk density, moisture, ash, and N. Chick mortality was low (1.3%) and similar on 2 types of litters. Live weights on d 28, 35, 39, and weight gains, feed intakes, dressing percentages, and feed conversion ratios were not affected by the type of litter material. The bulk density, moisture level, and pH of the RT were comparable with PH. Even though the water-holding capacity of PH (213%) was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than RT (70%), the latter material had significantly higher (P < 0.01) water-releasing capacity compared with the former (17.9 vs. 13.6%). Throughout the experiment the RT litter had around 10% units higher moisture level than PH litter. By d 39, the moisture content of the RT litter was (48%) significantly higher (P = 0.05) than PH litter (37%). The N contents of RT litter were higher (P < 0.05) than those of PH on d 28, 35, and 39, being 8.1, 7.8, and 7% and 3.4, 3.6, and 3%, respectively. It was concluded that RT could be successfully used as an alternative litter material for broilers. A higher N content in RT-based spent broiler litter would make it be a better organic fertilizer and ruminant feed compared with PH-based litter.

Potential of hazelnut husks as a broiler litter material

1. Hazelnut husks and some other litter materials were compared for litter properties and their effects on broiler performance. 2. A total of 750 1-d-old broiler chicks were weighed and assigned at random to 1 of 5 treatments, with each treatment replicated 3 times. 3. The treatments were wood shavings (control), wheat stalks, rice hulls, hazelnut husks, and a mixture of 50% rice hulls and 50% hazelnut husks. 4. Although hazelnut husks were associated with lower body weights at 49 d of age, food efficiency mortality, carcase yield, breast blisters and production index were similar to birds on wood shavings. Hazelnut husks had the highest litter moisture. 5. The results show that hazelnut husks alone and when mixed with rice hulls are a potential alternative litter material for broiler production.