Division of Livestock Production and Management, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shuhama, Alusteng, Srinagar, 190 006, India.
An experiment was carried out to study the effect of different litter materials, T1 sawdust (control), T2 chaffed wheat straw, T3 dried tree leaves and T4 wood shavings on the performance and cost of production of commercial broilers reared in temperate agro-climatic conditions of Kashmir valley during summer season. Results indicated statistically insignificant difference in all production parameters viz final body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption and FCR. Economic analysis revealed that cost of production was least for the group reared on saw dust followed by those reared on chaffed wheat straw, dried tree leaves and wood shavings. It could therefore be concluded that while chaffed wheat straw, dried tree leaves and wood shavings could be used as alternate litter materials to saw dust without significantly affecting the performance, saw dust was the most economical.
Broilers, Performance, Litter materials
