Abstract:
The availability of paddy husk (PH) as a litter material for poultry production is decreasing. The objective of the
present study was to determine the suitability of refused tea (RT), a waste generated during the processing of
green leaves into black tea, as alternative litter material. Three experiments using completely randomized design
were conducted for PH and RT each alone or as mixtures to determine the effects of the type of litter material on
growth performance, behaviour of broilers, litter characteristics, and litter ammonia emission. In experiment
one, 300 male broilers (Cobb–500) chicks were raised from day 5 to 21 on ten-floor pens (1.5m2
), each provided
with either PH or RT as the litter material. Five and three PH and RT mixtures (v/v) were used in experiment two
and three, respectively to raise broilers (n=300 in each experiment) from day 21 to 42. The type of litter material
had no significant effect (P>0.05) on growth performances, hock burn damage score, bird’s cleanliness score and
dressing percentage. Compared to PH, RT litter reported a significantly (P<0.05) higher bulk density, N content
and caked surface area and tend to have a higher moisture level (p<0.10). Compared to PH alone, RT alone or 1:1
PH:RT litter reduced the emission of ammonia by 53.6 and 34%, respectively. Percentage time spent on foraging
was significantly (P<0.05) higher on PH than on RT. The time spent on and the frequency of inter-bird interac tions were significantly (P<0.05) higher among the birds raised on RT, compared to those kept on PH. The study
concluded that RT can be used as an alternative litter material for broilers. Other advantages of RT litter were
the lower ammonia emission and higher litter N contents. Higher litter moisture content and incidence of caking
were the disadvantages of RT as litter material.
