Paddy Straw as an Alternate Bedding Material for Broiler Chicks

Burning of agricultural residues especially paddy straw is now recognized as a major source of environmental concern in India. Burning of huge quantities of paddy straw annually leads to emission of obnoxious gases thus causing adverse impacts on, health of human, animal and bird population. This practice can be discouraged through its utilization as an alternate litter material to commonly used paddy husk which is now available at costly prices because of its use in different industries thus raising the cost of broiler production. This was evaluated through the experiment during winter season conducted on broiler chicks. Broiler chicks (n=144) were distributed into three treatment groups, each having 4 replicates of 12 chicks with equal sex and ratio and average group weight, and reared up to 42 days of age under similar conditions of housing and management except the variation in litter material. Paddy husk (PH), unchopped paddy straw (UPS) and chopped paddy straw (CPS) were used as different litter materials. The growth parameters tested in the experiment were body weight, weight gain, FCR, PER, EER and carcass characteristics (viz. evisceration rate and proportion of cut-up parts). The litter type had no significant effect on body weight, weight gain, FCR, PER and EER among all the treatments. The average body weight at 42 days of age was 1939, 1947 and 1960 g, respectively in PH, CPS, UCPS groups. The bedding type had no significant effect and no influence on the carcass characteristics viz. evisceration rate and proportion of cut-up parts of the carcass, so it was concluded that paddy straw can be used as good bedding material for broiler chicks.