Effect of chemically amended litter on litter quality and broiler performance in winter

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredient composition of broiler starter and finisher rations.

Ingredient	(kg/100 kg)
	Starter	Finisher
Corn, yellow	49.25	55
Soybean meal	41.5	36
Rice polish (oiled)	05	05
Dicalcium phosphate	2.75	2
Limestone powder	1	1.5
Common salt	0.5	0.5
Additives	+	+
Methionine	0.220	0.215
Calculated chemical composition
CP%	22.1	20.21
ME, kcal/kg	2893	2909
Lysine %	1.20	1.18
Methionine %	0.5	0.69
Calcium	1.2	1.24
Available phosphorous	0.5	0.59

Notes: Additives included (per 100 kg): Liver tonic (Superlive TM) 0.25 g, Vitamin C 20 g, Choline chloride 50 g, Trace mineral 50 gm (Iron 4000 mg, Copper 0.5 g, Manganese 6000 mg, Zinc 4600 mg, Selenium 10 mg, Iodine 80 mg) Vitamin A 825000IU, Vitamin D3 165000IU, Vitamin E 500 mg, Vitamin B12 0.015 mg, Vitamin K 100 mg, Thiamine 80 mg, Riboflavin 6 mg, Vitamin B6 160 mg, Niacin 1200 mg, Biotin 0.2 mg, Folic acid 1.0 mg, TM200 25 g, Coccidiostat 50 gm.

TM₂₀₀ and coccidiostat were supplied up to 3 weeks of age only. In addition to these supplements, Lysine and Cystine were also added to fulfil the requirement.

Table 2. The production parameters of broiler chicks under different treatments.

Parameters	Treatments (Mean ± SE)
	Control	ATL	SBTL
Initial average body weight, g	52.10 ± 0.00	52.10 ± 0.00	52.10 ± 0.00
Final average body weight, g (at 42 days)	1822.16^a ± 6.10	1865.09^b ± 1.95	1912.20^c ± 4.64
Average weight gain, g	1770.06^a ± 6.09	1813.00^b ± 1.95	1860.11^c ± 4.65
Average feed intake, g	3713.80 ± 40.71	3655.10 ± 23.57	3688.60 ± 36.15
FCR	2.10^c ± 0.01	2.02^b ± 0.02	1.98^ab ± 0.02
PER	2.31^a ± 0.02	2.40^b ± 0.02	2.44^ab ± 0.03
EER	6.09^c ± 0.05	5.86^b ± 0.03	5.76^ab ± 0.07
Survivability, %	95.00 ± 2.89	98.33 ± 1.67	98.33 ± 1.67

Note: Mean value bearing different superscripts in a row differs significantly (p < .05).

Figure 1. Effect of different treatments on moisture.

Figure 2. Effect of different treatments on pH.

Table 3. Pathogen load of litter of different treatments.

Period (week)	Parameters	Treatments (Mean ± SE)
		Control	ATL	SBTL
End of second week	E. coli, CFU in log 10	8.35^b ± 0.08	7.67^a ± 0.33	8.11^ab ± 0.07
	Salmonella and Salmonella -like microbes, CFU in log 10	7.58 ± 0.16	7.40 ± 0.10	7.39 ± 0.21
	TBC, CFU in log 10	8.58 ^b ± 0.02	8.32^ab ± 0.02	8.13^a ± 0.14
	Parasitic count, Oocysts/gm	3027.00 ± 58.77	3142.33 ± 54.73	3028.00 ± 47.06
End of fourth week	E. coli, CFU in log 10	8.56 ± 0.11	8.09 ± 0.31	8.32 ± 0.16
	Salmonella and Salmonella -like microbes, CFU in log 10	7.99 ^b ± 0.06	7.58 ^a ± 0 .16	7.26^a ± 0.14
	TBC, CFU in log 10	8.86^c ± 0.03	8.71^ab ± 0.05	8.59^a ± 0.05
	Parasitic count, Oocysts/gm	7110.33 ± 127.41	6265.00 ± 172.24	5272.67± 155.68
End of sixth week	E. coli, CFU in log 10	8.64 ± 0.04	8.42 ± 0.05	8.50 ± 0.08
	Salmonella and Salmonella -like microbes, CFU in log 10	8.16 ^b ± 0.07	7.78 ^a ± 0.17	7.92^ab ± 0.04
	TBC, CFU in log 10	9.05^b ± 0.06	8.78^a ± 0.03	8.65^a ± 0.03
	Parasitic Count, Oocysts/gm	9373.00^c ± 154.07	7267.00^b ± 202.63	6904.33^b ± 159.90

Note: Mean value bearing different superscripts in a row differs significantly (p < .05).

Table 4. Litter quality assessment of different treatments.

Period (week)	Parameters	Treatments (Mean ± SE)
		Control	ATL	SBTL
End of second week	pH	7.3^c ± 0.15	3.9^b ± 0.13	1.5^a ± 0.07
	Moisture, %	18.67 ± 3.19	14.17 ± 0.44	15.50 ± 1.32
	N, %	2.10 ± 0.27	2.22 ± 0.09	2.90 ± 0.52
End of fourth week	pH	6.5^b ± 0.17	3.2^a ± 0.15	3.4^a ± 0.35
	Moisture, %	20.50 ± 2.84	18.83 ± 3.66	16.17 ± 2.92
	N, %	4.94 ± 0.51	4.96 ± 0.35	4.62 ± 0.27
End of sixth week	pH	10.3^c ± 0.06	9.1^a ± 0.07	9.5^b ± 0.03
	Moisture, %	30.33 ± 1.76	28.00 ± 0.87	26.33 ± 1.88
	N, %	5.03 ± 0.30	5.36 ± 0.45	5.56 ± 0.34

Note: Mean value bearing different superscripts in a row differ significantly (p < .05).