Effect of Different Litter Materials
in Growth Performance of Broiler
LADY MAE R. SALIBONGCOGON
1-MSAS
Introduction
To obtain maximum broiler production
potential, management of the poultry house
is essential. One of the management
practices is the proper maintenance of
poultry litter. The quality of litter significantly
influences the overall performance and
ultimately the profit.
Litter plays a vital role in absorbing the
fecal moisture, promoting drying by
increasing surface area of the house
floor, insulating chick from cooling
effects of the ground and providing a
protected cushion.
It provides a warm, soft and spongy
surface for optimum comfort of the
birds. The litter should be easily
available with a maximum moisture
absorbing capacity, non-toxic,
economical and porous.
Proper level and depth of litter is important to avoid high bacterial load and unhygienic conditions resulting in harmful
gases which keep the birds in stress, causes insects problems (particularly flies), soiled feathers, footpad lesions and
breast bruises or blisters. Different litter materials are used in poultry houses that include wood shavings, straw, sawdust,
cane bagasse, recycled paper (shredded paper and paper chips), rocks (pea and volcanic), hulls (rice and groundnut),
maize cobs, grape pith, etc. These materials have been used successfully due to their high moisture absorbing capacity.
the perfect depth to start is four to six inches, but
even up to twelve inches works well. The depth
allows the loose decomposable materials to
absorb the chicken manure, have access to
enough oxygen, and be able to be stirred up by
the chickens in order to break down into
compost.
Wood shavings and sawdust are the
most common materials used as litter in
commercial broiler production in many
areas. Low supplies, high cost, and
unavailability of suitable materials
have encouraged the search for
alternative litter materials.
A variety of paper products (Malone et al., 1982, Malone et al.,
1983, Lien et al., 1992), gypsum (Grimes et al., 2006), hardwood
bark (Brake et al., 1992), kenaf (Malone et al., 1990), peanut hulls
(Lien et al., 1998), sand (Billgilli et al., 1999a, Billgilli et al., 1999b,
Shields et al., 2005), rice hulls (Veltmann et al., 1984), rice hull ash
(Chamblee and Yeatman, 2003), rice and wheat straw (Benabdeljelil
and Ayachi, 1996), softwood chipping fines (Parsons and Baker,
1985), leaves (Willis et al., 1997) refused tea (Atapattu and
Wickramasinghe, 2007) ground corncob, chopped corn stalk and
soybean straw (de Avila et al., 2008) have occasionally been used as
substitute bedding materials with various degrees of success.
Bedding type can significantly affect growth performance and carcass quality of broilers (Billgilli et al., 1999b, Malone et al., 1983). Litter type affects litter
consumption and litter bacteria (Malone et al., 1983, Lien et al., 1992), thus may affect body weight and immunity of broiler chicks. Factors which can influence
the efficiency of a type of litter include particle size, moisture content and buildup, rate of caking, and other physical characteristics of the material used.
