Chopped palm leaves as an acceptable bedding material for broiler production

摘要

An experiment was conducted to examine the suitability of chopped palm leaves to utilize as a bedding material, compared to wood shavings or wheat straw, on growth performance, immune response, and air quality for broiler production. Three bedding materials were used: wood shavings, chopped palm leaves, and wheat straw. A total of 3,240 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) was randomly distributed into 3 litter groups (1,080 birds each). Each group had 6 replicate pens (180 birds/pen). All birds were kept under similar environmental conditions, except for bedding material. The obtained results revealed that the growth performance and total mortality rate were not significantly affected by bedding material type. However, using chopped palm leaves as bedding material significantly reduced (P & 0.05) ammonia emission compared to wood shavings and wheat straw (4.1, 7.3 and 8.4 ppm, respectively). A similar trend was observed for settled dust concentration (4.0, 10.3, and 5.9 g/m(2), respectively). Moreover, an improvement in cell-mediated immunity was observed in boilers kept on chopped palm leaves. Carcass characteristics were not significantly affected by bedding material. It was concluded that chopped palm leaves are a good alternative bedding material to wood shavings and wheat straw in commercial broiler production.