Short communication: Evaluation of the physical and chemical properties of some agricultural wastes as poultry litter material

Abstract

The physical and chemical properties of some agricultural wastes included wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, sugarcane peat; rice hulls as well as wood sheaving and sawdust as the control were examinedfor determinetheir potential as poultry bedding materials. Sugarcane bagasse and peat compared to other materials had greater initial moisture content (P<0.05) and there were no significant difference between other materials. The highest and lowest water holding capacity (WHC) was related to sugarcane peat (548.14%) and rice hulls (116.70%), respectively (P<0.05). Water releasing capacity (WRC) was significantly affected only in two hours after socking the materials in water so that the highest and lowest WRC were related to rice hulls (6.03%) and peat (1.75%), respectively (P<0.05). The highest and lowest pH values were related to peat (7.26%) and sawdust (4.60%), respectively (P<0.05). The highest and lowest bulk densitywere related to sawdust (182.51 kg/m³) andbagasse (46.28 kg/m³), respectively (P<0.05). The highest and lowest nitrogen (N) percentage values were also related to wheat straw (0.39%) and sawdust (0.01%), respectively (P<0.05). In conclusion, ricehulls due to its favorable properties could be successfully used as alternative poultry litter material. Peat was not a satisfactory material for applying as poultry bedding. In contrast to peat, bagasse due to similar properties to straw seems to have good potential for using aspoultry litter material.