Use of poultry house waste as livestock feed

Use of poultry house waste as livestock feed and fertilizer Divya, Senior Scientist Praveen K. Tyagi, Principal Scientist CARI, Izatnagar-243 122

Poultry in India • Indian broiler production growth is estimated at 10 percent per year, with 2012 production reaching a record 3. 2 million tons. • Layer production growth is estimated at 6 percent annually. • Indian poultry and egg consumption continues to grow and is expected to double by 2015. • Indian broiler production is highly organized, with the formal sector contributing nearly 85 percent of the total output

Manure or Wastes from poultry and other farm animals – Contribute significantly towards crop production through enriching soil fertility. With commercialization of poultry farming activity in a very big way during the last few decades, huge amounts of poultry house wastes are generated and becoming available for this purpose.

Why poultry house waste/manure as livestock/poultry feed? The unprecedented growth of poultry in India – 1. Disposal problem- causes soil & water pollution 2. Demand of quality feed, the demand for which continued of rise at much higher rate than the supply position. 3. Presently, the annual requirement for compounded poultry feed has been estimated at 20 million tones with current 10 and 20% annual growth rates for the egg and meat stocks respectively, the feed requirement is expected to rise. 4. The feed and fodder situation for the large animals is still grimmer- shortages for qconcentrates – 44% qgreen fodder – 33% qdry fodder - 44% 5. poultry house waste/manure contain high amount of undigested nutrients

Processed poultry house wastes q. Do not have their original characteristics and are wholesome in appearance, smell and texture. q. Also, these represent a cheap reservoir of nutrients and other growth promoting factors. Poultry wastes contain higher concentration of N, Ca, P etc. , than those from other farm animal wastes and, consequently, present a more intensive source of nutrient recycling. q. Moreover, the poultry wastes are relatively dry and essentially totally collectable at site. q. The cost of such raw material q. The cost incurred on their collection and processing alone.

Types of Poultry house Wastes 1. Poultry manure- In the intensive poultry production system where birds are houses in cages or on slated floors, the excreta collected is by and large free o foreign materials except, of course, a bit of broken feathers downs, spilled feed or broken egg shells 2. Poultry litter- The excreta from birds reared in confinement housing system with some kind of material spread onto the floor is not removed daily but allowed to mix with the bedding. In the course of time, the bedding gets impregnated with droppings, decomposed and transformed into the so called built- up litter. Some of the materials commonly employed for bedding included rice husk, wood shavings, sawdust groundnut hulls and chaffed hay.

The Yield of Poultry Wastes q. When birds are housed on littered flood, the amount of poultry house wastes (litter) may be twice as that of droppings alone. q. It has also been estimated that of every kg of egg mass produced, a hen excreta nearly 4 kg of fresh droppings or 1 kg of the dry excreta.

Estimated availability of poultry house wastes Type of bird Kind of waste Approx. quantity (g DM/b/d Broiler chickens Manure 11. 0 (cage) Broiler chickens Litter 18. 6 (litter) Replacement chickens Manure 13. 7 (cage) Replacement chickens Litter 27. 3 (litter) Laying hens Manure 32. 9 (cage) Laying hens litter 65. 8 (litter)

Approximate chemical composition and nutritive value of poultry manure and litter Constituent (% DM) Crude protein True protein Uric acid Crude fibre N-free extract Cell wall Contents Ether extract Total ash Calcium Phosphorus Copper TDN (Sheep) Poultry manure 30 -40 8 -13 3 -10 13 -15 29 -35 38. 0 Poultry litter 21 -30 13 -22 2 -8 17 -20 30 -35 58. 0 2 -3 21 -28 6 -9 1. 6 -2. 5 0. 015 52. 0 1 -3 15 -25 2 -6 1 -3 0. 01 72. 5 High ash and fibre contents in poultry manure also responsible in part for its low metabolisable energy (800 - 1000 kacl/kg)

Average contents of certain amino acids in poultry manure and litter Amino acid (%DM) Alanine Arginine Aspartic acid Cystine Glutamic acid Glycine Histidine Isoleucine Lycine Methionine Phenylalanine Proline Serine Threonine Tryptophan Tyrosine Valine Poultry manure 0. 93 0. 45 1. 07 0. 55 1. 42 1. 57 0. 19 0. 49 0. 75 0. 47 0. 18 0. 42 0. 59 0. 52 0. 48 0. 53 0. 30 0. 68 Poultry litter 0. 84 0. 47 1. 18 0. 12 0. 20 2. 34 0. 22 0. 61 0. 96 0. 53 0. 13 0. 52 0. 93 0. 55 0. 54 0. 49 0. 33 0. 78

Utilization of poultry waste as livestock feed q. Economic considerations q. Environmental considerations 1. In view of the fact that feed usually represents 60 -70% of total costs on animal production, its replacement to some extent by the processed wastes may significantly help reduce feeding expenses. The potentiality of poultry wastes as a feedstuff especially for ruminants has been well documented. 2. poultry wastes have been successfully employed in many countries of South Africa for beef, dairy and sheep production. 3. In the U. K. certain organizations like Thornbers Ltd. and Ross Ltd. are engaged in commercial production and marketing of poultry manure as a feedstuff for livestock and poultry. 4. In order to improve its public image, poultry manure in the USA is called by the name Poultry Anaphage meaning to eat again.

Feeding poultry manure to beef cattle 1. Poultry manure is an excellent protein supplement with 4070% TDN. Besides, it is a rich source of inorganic constituents particularly Ca, P, Na, K and to some extent of trace elements. 2. But in view of high ash content, the feeding of poultry manure to such animals is limited to about one third of their concentrate mixture. When feeding layer manure usually high in Ca content, due care must be taken to balance the ration in terms of P such that the Ca: P ratio is not disturbed. 3. Palatability of any feed is an important consideration in its utilization. The layer manure is usually more palatable when ensiled with forages rich in fermentable carbohydrates like the maize, sorghum, sugarcane or when supplemented with 3% molasses

Feeding poultry waste to milch animals 1. Experiments on feeding of dried poultry manure to dairy cows showed encouraging results with no adverse effects on milk yield or composition. 2. The optimum level of poultry manure in dairy cows’ ration has been worked out to be 15% in high yielding animals to prevent excessive intake of Ca which may otherwise cause serious metabolic disorders. 3. Dairy cows fed ensiled poultry manure consisting of rice straw, poultry manure and rice bran in a 5: 2: 3 ratios performed as good as those feed on noticeable adverse effects on milk yield or composition. 4. Cows usually adapt themselves rapidly from fresh green forage or pasture to the poultry litter and cassava silage without any adverse effect on milk production.

Feeding poultry house wastes to pigs 1. The nutritive value of poultry wastes to pigs varies considerably; a distinction may be made between fresh poultry waste and decomposed waste or litter. 2. Fresh poultry wastes at dietary levels lower than 10% are not only tolerated well by pigs but also appear to stimulate their appetite and growth. 3. An integrated approach of hen, pig and fish farming has been successfully adopted by farmers in South-East Asia where laying hens are housed in cages above the pig pens thereby saving on poultry house costs. Excreta voided by bids directly fell onto the pens and consumed by pigs virtually within seconds. One pig is usually ‘serviced’ by 3 -7 hens and this account for 6 -15% of their DM intake. 4. When complemented with fish farming, it represents a completely closed ‘Zero-pollution’ cycle.

Feeding poultry wasted back to poultry 1. The high contents of uric acid, CF and ash limit the usage of poultry wastes in poultry rations to a level higher than 5%. 2. The high ash contents in diets consisting of poultry wastes can, however, be curtailed through appropriate reduction in the amount of mineral mixture. 3. Efforts have also been made to reduce uric acid contents in poultry excreta through physical, chemical, microbiological or fungal treatment. 4. Experience has shown that recycling of poultry wastes in poultry rations, though technical feasible, offers very few practical benefits.

PROCESSING OF POULTRY WASTES 1. In order to minimize risk of health hazard following feeding of poultry wastes to farm livestock, it may be useful to process these appropriately. 2. Processing methods helpful in q detoxification q improving its feeding value q palatability q texture/colour etc

1. Dehydration a) Drying is an oldest method known to be effective against pathogens b) Drying of poultry manure or litter is feasible because it contains less moisture than that in pig, cattle or buffalo excreta. c) Sun drying is inexpensive but slow. d) Drying at high temperature leads to significant lose of N which can be minimized through acidification of excreta prior to drying.

2. Stacking a) Another simple way of drying poultry waste is through stacking. b) The litter is stacked to a depth of about 1. 5 m under a roof for 6 -8 weeks. Such litter is fairly sterile with fecal coli forms such as salmonella, c) This may as well be treated with formalin to preserve its nutrients.

3. Chemical treatment a) Feeing of fresh poultry manure is possible only when it has been treated with formalin. b) Apart from its main function as a preservative, formalin acts as bactericide and fungicide thus drastically lowering the microbial count of the substrate. c) The manure is treated with 0. 7% formalin (V/W) containing 37% formaldehyde. d) The addition of molasses to formalin-treated stuff is often necessary to improve its palatability.

4. Ensiling a) Of the various methods of treating wastes, ensiling seems to be the best for it improves not only the palatability of the stuff but also destroys pathogens. b) Poultry manure or litter can be ensiled with crop residues, forages and other roughages, fruit and vegetable wastes, root crops or with molasses alone provided there is sufficient moisture (40 -60%) and soluble carbohydrates in the substrate to ensure good fermentation process. c) When ensiling poultry wastes with dry materials, sufficient quality of water may be added to attain a desired moisture level.

HEALTH HAZARD AND SAFETY CONSIDERATION • The great concern lies in the excessive accumulation of macro-mineral (Ca, Si, and Fe), trace elements (Cu, Mn, Zn, Se), medicinal compounds (anti-biotics, coccidiostats, sulphatmilamides) mycotoxins and hormones besides pathogens directly transmittable via wastes from animals to human beings • Most studies on these aspects show that the rumen microbes virtually break down all of the metabolites derived from fecal wastes. • Likewise, toxicological research involving feeding of dried layer manure at 30% level on dry basis to steers for 180 days revealed no adverse effects on various physiological parameters. • Experimental and field observations have so far produced no evidence to show that poultry wastes recycling poses any potential health risk to animals provided that such wastes have properly been processed and the rations carefully balanced.

Thanks