EFFICACY OF CERTAIN LITTER MATERIALS ON BROILER PERFORMANCE
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Date
1999
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COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES Mannuthy - Thrissur
Abstract
An experiment was designed and conducted at the
Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary and
Animal Sciences, Mannuthy to evaluate the efficacy oi
different litter materials on the performance of broilexs
under hot-humid conditions of Kerala. Two hundred and ten,
one-day old straight-run commerical broiler chicks were reared
for a period of eight weeks. The birds were allotted into
five different litter treatment groups, viz., wood shavings
(TJ which formed the control group, saw dust (T,), rice husk
(T,), coir pith (TJ and paddy chaff (T,), each comprising of
three replicates with fourteen birds each. Standard broiler
starter and finisher rations were formulated as per BIS (1992)
specifications for the broilers. The chicks were reared under
standard managemental conditions upto eight weeks of age.
Results of the study revealed that body weight and body
weight gain were not influenced by different litter treatment s
throughout the experimental period. Eventhough feed
(-otisumption and feed efficiency were influenced by litter
mat erials during the initial periods, there cjos tto impact for
the rest of the experimental period. Processing yields and
]< sses were not affected by different litter treatments.
Litter quality parameters like weight of the litter at the
b«;>ginning and end of the experiment, weekly moisture content.
fortnightly ammonia-nitrogen content, nitrogen-phosphoruspotassium
content, litter pH and proximate composition of the
l i tter at the beginning, at sixth week and eighth week were
significantly different (P<0.01) between different treatment
groups. It was observed that eventhough there was significant
difference (P<0.05) between treatment groups for mortality by
fourth week of age, no significant difference was obtained for
all other periods. Cost-benefit analysis revealed that net
[uofit per bird by sixth week and eighth week of age was more
for litter materials, viz., saw dust, rice husk, coir pith and
paudy chaff than wood shavings.
Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that
different litter materials, viz., saw dust, rice husk, coir
pith and paddy chaff are equally good for broiler raising as
wood shavings during the month of January through March in
Kerala.
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