Effect of Alum (Aluminum Sulfate) Addition to Poultry Litter on Layer Performance, Litter pH and Litter Composition

Abstract

The current experiment was conducted to assess the effect of using different litter types with or without alum on performance and litter quality of the hen layers. A total number of 120 Inshas layer hens of 24 weeks of age were randomly distributed into 4 groups (3 replicates each 10 hens) of floor litter: T1 birds were raised on wood shaving litter, T2 birds were raised on wheat straw litter, T3 birds were raised wood shaving with 100 g of alum / kg of bedding, and T4 birds were raised on wheat straw litter with 100 g of alum / kg of bedding. Topping of fresh litter with acidifier amendment improved body weight, egg weight, egg number, egg mass, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of layers compared to chickens in the untreated litter group. In comparison with the control group, alum treatment reduced the pH level of the litter. Regarding the NH4+-N content, alum-treated litter showed a higher value than the untreated litter. On average, alum-treated litter had lower P content than the untreated litter. Alum treated group showed a significant increase in dry matter and total nitrogen content when compared with the untreated group. The study results showed significant variability (p < .05) in the moisture content and pH of the control and treated litter. This clearly shows the effectiveness of litter treatment products enhancing litter quality and therefore the bird’s environmental climate. Thus it can be decided that litter modification with alum treatment had a significant impact on litter quality and in turn enhanced the productive performance of layer chickens without any adverse effect.