Hardwood Sawdust as Poultry Bedding - USDA Forest Service
Hardwood Sawdust as Poultry Bedding - USDA Forest Service
Hardwood Sawdust as Poultry Bedding - USDA Forest Service
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6. At ~6 weeks of age the incidence of foot pad lesions w<strong>as</strong> subjectively scoredon 25 birds of each sex.7. In collaboration and support by the cooperating poultry company, thefollowing production data w<strong>as</strong> requested for males and females grown on eachspecies of sawdust for the two flocks; body weight, feed conversion, livability,carc<strong>as</strong>s quality, incidence of condemned carc<strong>as</strong>ses at the processing plant, andoverall production cost.Fresh OakStored PineNTTH4TNTH1NTStored PoplarTH5TFresh PineNTH2NTFresh PoplarTH6TStored OakNTH3NT = no mold inhibitorT = mold inhibitor40’ x 440’ placing 24,000Placement 10/05 & 1/06NT = females; T = malesFigure 1: Diagram of the poultry farm with treatment identification.Objective 4:4. Assess composting <strong>as</strong> a treatment strategy for mixed-wood residues.A compost bedding material w<strong>as</strong> obtained from a local, commercial compostoperation. This material w<strong>as</strong> derived from wood grindings, anaerobic lagoon crust froma poultry processing plant, shredded corn stalks, hay and straw; and horse stable bedding.These products were mixed, composted for several weeks at 160 F, and allowed to cureup to 9 months. The aged composted w<strong>as</strong> then screened (< ½ inch) and placed in two 5 x20 ft pens inside a commercial broiler house. Two additional pine sawdust pens wereused <strong>as</strong> a control. Initial litter depth w<strong>as</strong> ~3 inches. Chick density simulated commercialpractices, .33 ft2/bird from 0-7 days, 0.5 ft2/bird 8-14 days and 1.0 ft2/bird from 15 daysto 42 days.Samples of each bedding type were collected for initial and final microbiological(mold), chemical and physical profile characteristics. Broiler performance parameters7