Suitability of some agro-industrial by-products as litter material for poultry Physio-chemical properties

Abstract

Paddy-husk (PH) based deep litter system is the most popular poultry management system in SriLanka. Physio-chemical properties of PH make it an ideal litter material for poultry keeping. SincePH is increasingly been demanded by other industries, availability of PH for poultry industry has beenrestricted from recent years. Objective of the present study was to screen the physio-chemicalproperties of some commonly available agro-industrial by-products, to be used as alternative littermaterials for poultry. Physio-chemical properties such as dry matter (OM), bulk density (BO), pH,water absorbability (WA) and water releasing capacity (WRC) of seven alternatives such as ricestraw (RS), coir dust (CD), wood shawing;WS, saw dust;SD, tree litter;TL, shredded paper;SP andrefused tea;RT)) were determined and, compared with the respective values of PH. The experimentfollowed a completely randomized design. The OM % of the alternatives tested ranged from 91 %(SO) to 92% (SP). OM contents ofWS and RT were statistically similar to that of PH. However,none ofthe material had either too low or too high OM levels to be disqualified as a litter material. pHvalues of the tested materials were statistically similar and were slightly acidic (mean 6.27; range6.1-6.5). PH had the highest BO (0.09g/cm'). The BOs of CD, SO and RT, though were lower thanPH, the values were not significantly different from that of PH. WA was also statistically differentbetween the materials. CD had the highest (ll 0 I%) WA while RT showed lowest (70%) WA. SO,SP and TL showed statistically similar WA as PH. Materials showed a great variability (from 7.7%for SO to 26.7% for RS) in relation to WRC. PH had 13.6% WRC within 241m. RT had the closestWRC capacity (17.9%) to PH. Materials such as RS, TS, WS and SP showed as high as 25%WRC. When materials were compared for the parameters tested against those of PH, RS and WSwere similar to PH only in relation to two parameters. Being comparable with PH for four parameters,SO was identified as the best alternative for PH. CD, TL, SP and RT were comparable with PH inrelation to three parameters. Since CD had excessive WA (I 10 I%) and very low WRC it can not berecommended further studies. This study concludes that physio-chemical properties of SO, TL, SPand RT are comparable with PH. Field studies involving live poultry are warranted to determine howbirds perform and behave when raised on these litter materials.