Effect of pellet quality and biochar litter amendment on male turkey performance

Bedding (litter) is essential to poultry performance and health and can have an environmental impact after use in the poultry facility such as a soil amendment or as an alternative energy source. Pine shavings are the most common bedding used for turkey production. However, the increase in its price and its increasing scarcity in some areas have created new research opportunities for reusing litter as bedding. Improvement in feed pellet quality has been reported to improve poultry performance. However, the reports for turkeys are limited and dated. This study's objective was to determine how the improvement of feed pellet quality and the use of biochar added to a combination of used turkey brooder house litter and Miscanthus grass as bedding affects turkey performance, small intestine morphology, and ammonia production. Nicolas Select (Aviagen Turkeys, Lewisburg, WV) male poults (816) were randomly assigned to 48 concrete litter floor pens on the day of hatch. The experiment used a completely randomized block design with a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments: 2 levels of fines in the feed and 4 bedding treatments. The bedding treatments were a constant level of used turkey brooder house litter combined with a varying combination of biochar and Miscanthus grass. Turkey's body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined. Differences in treatment means were considered to be statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05 using a mixed model in SAS 9.4. Turkeys fed the feed with improved pellet quality had a higher BW from 3 to 17 wk (17.0 ± 0.1 kg) than turkeys fed an increased abundance of fines (16.72 ± 0.1 kg). Turkeys fed feed with increased pellet quality had a lower FI (45.6 vs. 48.1 ± 0.4 kg) and improved FCR (2.20 vs. 2.31 ± 0.01) from 0 to 20 wk. Litter treatment with 20% biochar resulted in higher BW at 20 wk (20.91 ± 0.16 kg) because of increased BWG at 11 wk over the rest of the biochar levels (3.7 ± 0.1 kg). Strategies to reduce the abundance of fines in feed through feed formulation, feed manufacturing, feed transport, and in-house feed management should be considered to increase male turkeys' performance. There may be opportunities to use biochar as a litter amendment to improve turkey health and performance.

Characterization of different types of broiler bedding including dehydrated grass and their influence on production

The objective is to evaluate different bedding materials, including dehydrated grass, on performance and carcass yield and verify the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of materials. The completely randomized experiment comprised 1,080 chicks in a 3 × 2 factorial design with three levels of dehydrated grass (0%, 25%, and 50%) and two bedding materials (rice husks and shavings). Total microorganism count and physicochemical characteristics, surface temperature of birds, and performance of birds were analyzed up to 42 days of age, when birds were slaughtered, and carcass yield was evaluated. The inclusion of grass showed a higher microbiological count after 1 day, stabilizing with materials after 28 days. The inclusion of 50% of dehydrated grass resulted in a higher surface bed temperature at 42 days. Inclusions above 25% of grass have a lower density and a greater water retention capacity, pH, moisture, and total nitrogen, in addition to a lower FDA in its structure. The highest ammonia emissions occurred with the inclusion of 25% of grass. The inclusion of dehydrated grass did not affect performance and carcass yield, favoring feed conversion at the initial stages. The inclusion of grass can replace up to 25% of shavings without harming physicochemical parameters of materials and birds' performance.

The effect of litter materials on broiler performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

1. Divergence in outcomes from studies on the effects of litter materials on body weight, feed intake, feed conversion and mortality in broilers has led to a need for a meta-analysis to quantify their effects.2. A systematic search of published quantitative research relating to wood shavings and alternative bedding litters was conducted using databases.3. Means, standard deviations and sample sizes were extracted from each study. The response variables were analysed using the standardised mean difference (SMD, control treatment minus alternative litters).4. The literature demonstrated that alternative materials have no impact on feed intake in broilers, compared to wood shavings (SMD = 0.064, 95% CI = -0.101-0.229, P = 0.44).5. There was a positive overall effect of wood shavings on body weight (SMD = 0.253, 95% CI = 0.073-0.433, P = 0.006), feed conversion (SMD = -0.169, 95% CI = -0.327 - -0.012, P = 0.03) and mortality (SMD = -1.069, 95% CI = -1.983 - -0.155, P = 0.02) of broilers, compared to other litter types.6. Subgroup meta-analysis revealed that straw, when used as an alternative litter material to wood shavings, may be responsible for lower body weight (SMD = 0.654, 95% CI = 0.162-1.146, P = 0.009), worse feed conversion (SMD = -0.487, 95% CI = -0.828 - -0.145, P = 0.005) and higher mortality rates of broilers (SMD = -3.25, 95% CI = -5.681 - -0.819, P = 0.009). Rice husks impaired body weight compared to wood shavings (SMD = 0.535, 95% CI = 0.065-1.004, P = 0.02).7. It was concluded that different litter types do not affect the broilers' feed intake. Conversely, broilers kept on straw showed lower body weights, worse feed conversion and higher mortality rates, in comparison to wood shavings. Rice husks decreased body weight compared to wood shavings.