Effect of biochar on growth performance, gas concentration and broiler leg health of broilers

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of adding biochar to the diet and litter on growth performance, gas concentration, hock burning and dermatitis in the foot pads of broilers. In the experiment, 300 One day old chicks were randomly distributed to 5 treatments 3 replicates each treatment , with (20) birds .T1: as control treatment. T2: (2) kg biochar / 100 kg feed). T3: (4 kg biochar l / 100 kg feed). T4: (2 kg biochar / 100 kg litter). T5: (4 kg biochar / 100 kg litter) . The results of the statistical analysis of the average live body weight and feed conversion factor of broilers showed a significant superiority of the treatments with added biochar to the feed compared to the treatments with added biochar to the litter and the control group. While the results for ammonia gas NH3 levels, the hock burn and footpad dermatitis suggested that the addition of biochar to the litter treatments produced the best results compared to the biochar-added diet group and the control group.