Use of vegetable charcoal chaff as an alternative to the composition of broiler litter

Abstract

The use of poultry litter is key to the commercial poultry industry. Among its many functions, it is fundamental to provide comfort to the birds, and wood shavings and rice husk are the most widely used raw materials. However, there has been a search for alternative materials, with the main purpose of reducing costs. Therefore, this paper assesses the use of chaff (charcoal processing waste) (with approximately five mm particle size) as chicken litter, in an experiment with 225 broiler chicks divided into three treatments (T1 = broiler chicks housed in wood shaving litter; T2 = broiler chicks housed in 50% wood shaving litter and 50% charcoal processing waste (chaff); T3 = broiler chicks housed in 100% chaff litter, with five replicates of 15 birds each. Performance (feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion) in periods of one to seven, one to 21, 21 to 41 and one to 41 days of age was assessed. The dry matter, ash, phosphorous and nitrogen levels on the litter were assessed at the end of the trial period (41 days of age). Sample fragments were taken from the trachea, lung and thymus to evaluate possible changes related to the presence of the chaff at the end of the trial period. There were no significant differences in the broiler performance. Also, no histopathological lesions were found on the organs of birds raised in litters. Keywords: Feed Conversion. Alternative Material. Lung. Trachea.