Corncob biochar supplementation improves nutrient digestibility, fattening performance and carcass characteristics of fattening sheep

BACKGROUND

Corncob is a cheap source for biochar in developing countries. No studies reported on use of biochar as sheep fattening supplement.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this study is to determine the effect of corncob biochar supplementation on growth performance and carcass characteristics of sheep.

METHODS

Twenty-four Horro yearling rams (18.6 ± 0.938 kg live weight) were randomly distributed to four groups, control (300 g/day concentrate + local hay ad libitum), BC1.5 (control +1.5 g/day biochar), BC3 (control +3 g/day biochar) and BC4.5 (control +4.5/day biochar). The experimental concentrate consisted of 200 g/day wheat bran and 100 g/day Noug cake. The study consisted of a growth trial of 111 days followed by a digestibility trial of 10 days. Carcass characteristics for all rams were recorded at the end of the trial.

RESULTS

Dry matter intake, crude protein intake, dry matter digestibility and acid detergent fibre digestibility of BC1.5 were significantly higher than the control. Corncob biochar supplementation significantly improved daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio of the rams. Supplementation sheep with corncob biochar improved significantly dressing percentage, hindquarters weight, forequarters weight, ribs weight, brisket weigh and rib eye muscle area. There was a significant effect of the dietary treatment on weight of internal organs; however, they were all within the normal range of sheep.

CONCLUSIONS

Corncob biochar supplementation would be recommended at a level of 1.5 g/day to improve growth performance and carcass characteristics of sheep.

Consequences of supplementing duck's diet with charcoal on carcass criteria, meat quality, nutritional composition, and bacterial load

The influence of charcoal as feed additives on carcass and meat characteristics was studied in 144 four weeks old Muller ducks. The experimental ducklings were assigned to six groups of 24 birds (Eight per replicates each). The dietary treatments contained 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5% charcoal for G1 (C), G2 (L1), G3 (L2), G4 (L3), G5 (L4) and G6 (L5), respectively. All experimental birds were raised under similar environmental and managerial conditions. Results indicated that charcoal did not affect most carcass traits significantly except for dressing percentage was higher (P < 0.05) in 1.5 and 2 % charcoal included ducks diets compared to control ducks. Charcoal supplementation significantly affected duck meat tenderness, juiciness and water holding capacity. Moreover, charcoal altered (P < 0.05) meat components such as crude protein, calcium components, desirable fatty acids, nutritional value and some bacterial counts. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances reduced in birds fed charcoal at 1.5, 2, and 2.5%, with significant variation among treatments. No significant differences in the number of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were detected among the ducks fed with charcoal and the control group. It could be concluded that charcoal could be included in ducks' diets at 1.5 and 2% with beneficial effects on carcass parameters.

Biochar for agronomy, animal farming, anaerobic digestion, composting, water treatment, soil remediation, construction, energy storage, and carbon sequestration: a review

In the context of climate change and the circular economy, biochar has recently found many applications in various sectors as a versatile and recycled material. Here, we review application of biochar-based for carbon sink, covering agronomy, animal farming, anaerobic digestion, composting, environmental remediation, construction, and energy storage. The ultimate storage reservoirs for biochar are soils, civil infrastructure, and landfills. Biochar-based fertilisers, which combine traditional fertilisers with biochar as a nutrient carrier, are promising in agronomy. The use of biochar as a feed additive for animals shows benefits in terms of animal growth, gut microbiota, reduced enteric methane production, egg yield, and endo-toxicant mitigation. Biochar enhances anaerobic digestion operations, primarily for biogas generation and upgrading, performance and sustainability, and the mitigation of inhibitory impurities. In composts, biochar controls the release of greenhouse gases and enhances microbial activity. Co-composted biochar improves soil properties and enhances crop productivity. Pristine and engineered biochar can also be employed for water and soil remediation to remove pollutants. In construction, biochar can be added to cement or asphalt, thus conferring structural and functional advantages. Incorporating biochar in biocomposites improves insulation, electromagnetic radiation protection and moisture control. Finally, synthesising biochar-based materials for energy storage applications requires additional functionalisation.

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.

Effect of Biochar Diet Supplementation on Chicken Broilers Performance, NH3 and Odor Emissions and Meat Consumer Acceptance

The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of biochar diet supplementation for broiler chickens on (1) ammonia and odor emissions from manure, (2) feed conversion ratio and daily weight gain, and (3) selected meat quality and sensory parameters. Beechwood biochar (BC, 2 and 4%) and BC-glycerin-aluminosilicates mix (BCM, 3 and 6%) were tested as dietary additives. A total of 750 chicken broilers (Ross 308) were divided into five dietary groups with five replicates per group (n = 5, 30 birds in each replicate) and reared on a littered floor for 5 weeks. Both feed additives showed a significant reduction of ammonia emissions by up to 17%, while the reduction of odor emissions was not statistically significant. The feed conversion ratio increased by 8% for the highest concentration of the mixture. The change of the treated broilers' average body weight ranged in the last week of the experiment from 0 to -7%, with the most negative effect for the highest dose of the mixture. Sensory analysis of the sous-vide cooked breasts showed no significant differences.

A Review of Biochar Properties and Their Utilization in Crop Agriculture and Livestock Production

When it comes to the use of biochar in agriculture, the majority of research conducted in the last decade has focused on its application as a soil amendment and for soil remediation. This treatment improves soil quality, increases crops yields, and sequestrates atmospheric carbon to the soil. Another widely studied aspect connecting biochar with agriculture is the composting processes of various agricultural waste with the addition of biochar. Obtaining the material via the pyrolysis of agricultural waste, including animal manure, has also been investigated. However, given the remarkable properties of biochar, its application potential could be utilized in other areas not yet thoroughly investigated. This review paper summarizes the last decade of research on biochar and its use in crop agriculture and livestock production. Knowledge gaps are highlighted, such as using biochar for the mitigation of odorous emissions from animal manure and by feeding the biochar to animals.

The use of biochar in animal feeding

Biochar, that is, carbonized biomass similar to charcoal, has been used in acute medical treatment of animals for many centuries. Since 2010, livestock farmers increasingly use biochar as a regular feed supplement to improve animal health, increase nutrient intake efficiency and thus productivity. As biochar gets enriched with nitrogen-rich organic compounds during the digestion process, the excreted biochar-manure becomes a more valuable organic fertilizer causing lower nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions during storage and soil application. Scientists only recently started to investigate the mechanisms of biochar in the different stages of animal digestion and thus most published results on biochar feeding are based so far on empirical studies. This review summarizes the state of knowledge up to the year 2019 by evaluating 112 relevant scientific publications on the topic to derive initial insights, discuss potential mechanisms behind observations and identify important knowledge gaps and future research needs. The literature analysis shows that in most studies and for all investigated farm animal species, positive effects on different parameters such as toxin adsorption, digestion, blood values, feed efficiency, meat quality and/or greenhouse gas emissions could be found when biochar was added to feed. A considerable number of studies provided statistically non-significant results, though tendencies were mostly positive. Rare negative effects were identified in regard to the immobilization of liposoluble feed ingredients (e.g., vitamin E or Carotenoids) which may limit long-term biochar feeding. We found that most of the studies did not systematically investigate biochar properties (which may vastly differ) and dosage, which is a major drawback for generalizing results. Our review demonstrates that the use of biochar as a feed additive has the potential to improve animal health, feed efficiency and livestock housing climate, to reduce nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions, and to increase the soil organic matter content and thus soil fertility when eventually applied to soil. In combination with other good practices, co-feeding of biochar may thus have the potential to improve the sustainability of animal husbandry. However, more systematic multi-disciplinary research is definitely needed to arrive at generalizable recommendations.