Poultry litter for intensive beef production

Abstract

SUMMARYThe nutritional value of a pelleted fattening concentrate mixture, in which heat-sterilized poultry litter (PL) was included at rates of 0, 15, 25 and 35%, was studied. A digestion and nitrogen balance trial was carried out with rams, and a feeding trial was carried out with intact male cattle from the age of 8 mo to slaughter at 14 mo.Digestibility of crude protein was related inversely to PL content of the diet. This decrease in digestibility was not accompanied by a decrease in the quality of the protein digested.Gross and digestible energy contents of the diets were related inversely to their PL content. There were no significant differences in blood urea concentration. A concentrate mixture containing 1% urea but otherwise similar to the control, was included in the feeding trial.There were no significant differences in rate of live-weight or carcass gain between treatments. The differences in degree of fatness of the carcasses tended to be related inversely to PL% in the diet, but they were small and reached significance only with the extreme treatments. Feed intake on PL-containing diets was higher than on the control diet, but feed conversion efficiency was impaired when the proportion of PL exceeded 25%. No significant correlations were found between total volatile fatty acids in rumen liquor and daily live-weight gain.