Acidified Clay Litter Amendment

Treatment of poultry litter does not improve performance or carcass lesions in broilers

“…However, different results were reported by McWard and Taylor (2000) who found that broilers raised on LT with sodium bisulfate, an acidic substance, had higher body weight (2.74 kg) than those raised on untreated litter (2.60 kg), probably because acidic substances reduce litter pH and ammonia volatilization, resulting in better environmental conditions for the birds. Similarly, Bennett et al (2005), supplemented 0.2% hydrated lime in the poultry litter and observed that birds raised on the treated litter had higher body weight (1465 g, compared to 1406 g in untreated litter) at 35 days of age, and attributed this to lower bacterial concentrations in the treated litter.…”

“…Nagaraj et al (2007) did not note differences in lesion scores in the footpads of broilers at 42 and 49 days of age raised on litters treated with sodium bisulfate, an acidic substance. Different results were observed by McWard and Taylor (2000) who treated litter with acidified clay, sodium bisulfate, and aluminum sulfate. They reported a slight reduction of lesion scores in breasts and footpads as compared with birds raised on untreated litter.…”

“…Hock and footpad lesions were analyzed in two slaughtered birds per replicate using the following scores (McWard and Taylor, 2000): 0, normal (with no burns, crusts, or lesions); 1, footpad or hock burns (only the dermis) in one or both feet; 2, footpad or hock with crusts (healed lesions) in one or both feet; and 3, footpad or hock with lesions (open wounds) in one or both feet. Breast lesions were measured using the following scores (Angelo et al, 1997): 0, no lesions; 1, lesions but no inflammation; and 2, lesions and inflammation.…”

“…Excreta adherence also causes prolonged contact with corrosive substances in the litter (Eichner et al, 2007). Thus, litter treatment with substances that reduce ammonia formation helps to improve broiler carcass quality along with lesion scores in breasts, hocks, and footpads (McWard and Taylor, 2000). This study evaluated performance and carcass lesions in broilers reared on litter subjected to different treatments over five consecutive flocks.…”

Performance of broiler chickens raised in boric acid amended chopped rice straw and paddy husk

“…Many scientists have reported that the most efficient method to treat litter to reduce ammonia production by means of reducing pH, bacteria and mold counts, is use of various chemical products. These chemicals called chemical amendments such as Al2(SO4)3.14H2O (Moore, 1996), AlCl 3 .6H 2 O (Smith, 2004), paraformaldehyde (Seltzer et al, 1969), zeolites like clinoptilolite (Nakaue et al, 1981), superphosphate (Cotterill and Winter, 1953), phosphoric acid (Reece et al, 1979), ferrous sulfate (Huff et al, 1984), hydrated lime, limestone, gypsum (Cotterill and Winter, 1953), acetic acid, propionic acid 21 (Parkhurst et al, 1974), and antibiotics (Kitai and Arakawa, 1979), and Poultry Guard (McWard, 2000). These chemical amendments act by inhibiting microbial growth and by combining with the released ammonia and neutralize it.…”