Growing and finishing performance of steers when fed recycled poultry bedding during the growing period1

Abstract

Sixty Angus-cross steers were used to compare the effects of recycled poultry bedding (RPB) stacking method and the inclusion of monensin in growing diets on performance. Steers were individually fed balanced, growing diets for a period of 84 d. The diets were control (CON), CON + monensin (CON+M), deep-stacked RPB (DS), DS+M, shallow-stacked RPB (SS), and SS+M. The CON diets contained corn, soybean meal, corn silage, and cottonseed hulls. In the RPB diets, 35% of the silage, cottonseed hulls, and soybean meal was replaced with RPB (as-fed basis). At the end of the growing period, 30 steers, representing all treatment groups, had liver biopsies for trace mineral analysis and ruminal fluid samples to assess pH, VFA, and ammonia concentrations. All steers had blood samples drawn at the end of the growing period for analysis of Se and urea N. Steers were transported 466.6 km to simulate shipping stress and started on a finishing diet for a 120-d period. Intake, ADG, and G:F were monitored throughout the trial. Steers fed CON diets had higher ADG, DMI, and G:F than SS, and higher ADG and G:F than DS (P < 0.05) during the growing period. Steers fed DS diets had higher DMI than SS (P < 0.05) during the growing period. Inclusion of monensin in the growing diets increased G:F and decreased DMI (P < 0.05). Steers from the RPB treatments started the finishing period at lighter BW than steers fed CON diets (P < 0.05). During the finishing period, steers fed SS diets had higher DMI than steers fed CON diets (P < 0.06), whereas steers fed DS diets were intermediate. At slaughter, steers fed CON diets had higher hot carcass weights and quality grades than steers fed SS diets (P < 0.07), whereas steers fed DS diets were intermediate. Results indicate that steers fed RPB consumed it better when processed by deep stacking before consumption, that carryover effects of RPB into the finishing phase were minimal, and inclusion of monensin did not affect consumption of RPB diets.

The effect of the inclusion of recycled poultry bedding and the physical form of diet on the performance, ruminal fermentation, and plasma metabolites of fattening lambs1

“…The RPB used in our study had an NDF and ADF content close to the amounts reported by Azizi-Shotorkhoft et al (2012; 353 and 185 g/kg of DM, respectively) and Obeidat et al (2011;334 and 215 g/kg of DM, respectively), whereas the respective values in the current study were less than the amounts reported in the study of Capucille et al (2004;528 and 317 g/kg of DM, respectively). It seems that the NDF content of the RPB can vary substantially due to various factors such as the type of bedding material used (e.g., straw, wood shavings, rice hulls, corn cobs, and peanut hulls) and the extent of heat damage occurring during heat processing (Capucille et al, 2004), indicating the importance of determining the chemical composition of RPB before incorporating it into diets. Due to high negative correlation reported between ash and ME content of the RPB, the ash content is one of the most important measures of the quality of RPB (R 2 = -0.97; Deshck et al, 1998).…”

“…Using RPB in a ruminant diet has always been controversial and has stimulated a great deal of study in defense of its safety (Capucille et al, 2004;Obeidat et al, 2011). The presence of pathogenic organisms in raw RPB (Jeffrey et al, 1998;Martin et al, 1998) and heavy metals, which might cause serious hazards to animal and human health, are cause for safety concern (Rankins et al, 2002).…”

Effect of heating and aging of poultry litter on the persistence of enteric bacteria

“…Deep stacking or ensiling poultry litter is commonly recommended as a pretreatment to improve its safety and palatability as a feed for ruminants (Capucille et al, 2004;Bush et al, 2007). Bush et al (2007) showed that despite the wide variation of temperature within the stacks, Salmonella was eliminated in 98.7% of all inoculated sites.…”

What Do We Feed to Food-Production Animals? A Review of Animal Feed Ingredients and Their Potential Impacts on Human Health

“…Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2005a]. Data from animal-production researchers demonstrate that the quality of these products is directly related to animal feeding practices (Capucille et al 2004; Gatlin et al 2003; Zaghini et al 2005). Therefore, given the high consumption of animal-based food products in the United States, the ingredients used in animal feed are fundamentally important in terms of both the quality of the resulting food products and the potential human health impacts associated with the animal-based food-production chain.…”