Evaluation of Liquid and Dry Aluminum Chloride Treatment of Litter on Litter Quality and Performance of Duck

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of liquid aluminum chloride (liquid AlCl3) and dry AlCl3 litter treatment of duck litter on litter pH, ammonia (NH3) emissions and total nitrogen (TN) and duck performance. 240 newborn Pekin ducks were randomly assigned to 12 pens (20 ducks per pen) for 42 days. The litter additives consisted of the following four groups with three replications per group using a randomized block design: Control, G1 (50 g liquid AlCl3/kg duck litter), G2 (150 g liquid AlCl3/kg duck litter) and G3 (150 g dry AlCl3/kg duck litter). The liquid and dry AlCl3 were applied by spraying and as a top-dressing, respectively. No significant difference was found on growth performance, however, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly (P less than 0.05) better in G2. Significant differences (P less than 0.05) were found among duck litter pH at weeks 3, 5 and 6; NH3 emissions at weeks 2, 3, 5 and 6; and TN at weeks 3 and 6. At week 6, NH3 emissions from the duck litter were reduced by 23.1%, 32.2% and 36.7% in G1, G2 and G3, respectively. The addition of 150 g liquid or 150 g dry AlCl3 to duck litter has the potential to increase FCR and TN content while reducing litter pH and NH3 emission.