CHEMICAL-CONSTITUENTS IN BROILER LITTER IN 2 AREAS OF A PRODUCTION UNIT AFTER DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF GROWING PERIODS

Broiler litter was sampled from brood and non-brood areas of a product ion unit after consecutive 6 week growing periods; litter present afte r each of the first five periods was placed in dacron bags, embedded i n litter located in similar areas of the production unit and removed a fter subsequent growing periods to determine changes in chemical const ituents that relate to feeding value for ruminants. Litter harvested b efore the fourth 6 week broiler growing period yielded organic matter concentration lower for brood versus non-brood litter: Organic matter concentration in non-brood litter stabilized after two growing periods , whereas organic matter concentration in brood litter increased linea rly with increasing number of growing periods. For obtaining non-brood litter comparable with brood litter il I nitrogen concentration, harv est after the fourth growing period was warranted There was little or no effect of the number of broiler growing periods on neutral detergen t fiber concentration in brood litter However for a neutral detergent fiber level in non-brood litter similar to that in brood litter harves t after the third growing period was necessary. Neutral detergent solu ble organic matter concentration increased to approximately 30-35% wit h harvest after at least three consecutive growing periods; the magnit ude of change in non-brood litter neutral detergent soluble organic ma tter concentration was, relatively, greater than that for brood litter because of a lower initial level. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.