Mushroom Cultivation on the Bed of Animal Feces

Abstract

In a thermal and humid controlled chamber, Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and Shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes) were examined to cultivate on the beds of animal (goat, cattle, pig, hen and horse) feces. After the fresh animal feces were dried and crushed into powder, the nutrients of the animal feces, as well as the roughage used for cattle and goats, was analyzed and compared with that of typical bed materials such as cedar sawdust and rice bran. To investigate an optimal fraction of the roughage supplemented with the feces, mushrooms spawn growth test in a plate culture for each kind of feces was examined. Three beds were provided: pure feces, 90% feces and 190% roughage, and 80% feces and 20% roughage. After the beds were mounted in a glass plate and controlled in moisture of 65% and autoclaved, oyster fungus was inoculated. A bottle culture using a glass bottle was experimented for oyster and shiitake fungi on the two beds of the pure feces and the 90% feces and 10% roughage. The animal feces were rich in protein and scarce in fiber except for cattle and horse. The optimal combination was the 90% feces and the 10% roughage. In the test of the bottle culture, Oyster mushroom was obtained on the beds of animal feces except that of hen. Pigs feces showed the greatest cultivation. Shiitake mushroom failed to harvest on all beds of the animal feces, even though enough spawn growth occurred, excepting the hen.