Effect of effective microorganisms on broiler chicken performance and ammonia production in poultry house

Abstract

A study was conducted between January and March 2001 to assess the effects of Effective Microorganisms (EM) as feed additive in broiler chicken production on growth performance. The experiment involved 210 day-old broiler chicks which were randomly allocated to 14 pens of 15 birds each. There were seven treatments which were replicated twice. The main treatment, EM, was provided to experimental birds in two levels, 10 mlEM/l and 20 mlEM/l in drinking water or by spraying on litter material, or both in water and litter. Mortalities and causes were recorded. Furthermore, ammonia concentration in the poultry house was measured from the litter samples. There were significant (P<0.05) differences between treatments for growth performance and carcass yield. The slaughter weights for EM treated groups were 1372±9.1 g and 1658.6±9.2 g for 10 mlEM/l and 20 mlEM/l respectively compared to 1207±9.1 g for the control. The average daily weight gains were 31.9±0.2 g/d and 38.7±0.2 g/d for 10 mlEM/l and 20 mlEM/l, respectively, compared to 27.9±0.2 g/d for the control. The dressing percentages were 77.9, 79.1 and 73.9 for 10 mlEM/l, 20 mlEM/l and control groups respectively. Mortality was not significantly (P>0.05) affected by EM treatments while, ammonia levels in the litter treated with EM were generally lower than that of the untreated control group. It is concluded that supplementation of EM in drinking water and spraying in litter has growth promoting effect to broilers and the optimum performance was achieved at the rate of 20 mlEM/l provided in drinking water and sprayed on the litter.

Key words: Effective microorganisms, probiotics, broiler, carcass