The nutritional value of poultry litter for ruminants

Abstract

Urea is not necessary in the diet ruminant animals, but because of the ruminant unique ability to utilize the nitrogen from urea to form high quality microbial protein, therefore, urea can be fed as a replacement for part of the protein in a ration.  Urea, a non protein nitrogen compound, is used by the bacteria in the rumen of the cattle, sheep, goats and camels during the normal fermentation process, urea is broken down to ammonia. The rumen micro-organism is combine the ammonia with products of carbohydrate metabolism to form amino acid content to protein available to the animal when the principle source of dietary nitrogen is intact protein.   Manure is an inevitable byproduct of the production of milk, however,  Poultry manure is the organic waste material from poultry consisting of animal feces and urine. Poultry litter refers to the manure mixed with some of the bedding material or litter (wood shavings or sawdust) and feathers.  The most common source of poultry litter is from broiler houses, poultry manure is inevitable byproduct of the product of poultry meat and eggs, and also as a source of non-protein nitrogen (NPN).  Poultry litter is high in nitrogen content.  This material shows promise as a feed for ruminant animals. ration containing chicken litter as a supplemental nitrogen source as when fed soybean meal and better than when fed ammoniated molasses. The chicken litter contained 4.85 percent nitrogen (30.3 percent crude protein), 19.2 percent which was uric acid. Oat straw and groundnut hulls had been used as the litter base to absorb moisture.  Poultry litter has been used in fattening steers fed a concentrate consisting of high percent of chicken litter.  This review,  study of poultry manure as a simple and since it is the sure way to maintain quality and this can be particularly handy during the dry season when feeds are scarce