Effect of urease inhibitor and ceiling fans on ascites in broilers. 1. Environmental variability and incidence of ascites
1994
Anthony, N.B. | Balog, J.M. | Staudinger, F.B. | Wall, C.W. | Walker, R.D. | Huff, W.E.
A low ventilation model to induce ascites was introduced and characterized. In addition, the effect of supplemental air mixing via ceiling fans (CF) and the feeding of a urease inhibitor (0, 125, and 250 ppm) on incidence of ascites were investigated. Twelve environmental chambers were utilized in the trial; six were fitted with CF. Each dietary treatment was replicated twice per CF treatment. One hundred and twenty day-old male commercial broilers were reared per chamber. Atmospheric O2, CO2, and NH3, temperature, and humidity, as well as weekly litter moisture and pH, were monitored. Chamber CO2 levels increased immediately then stabilized. Chamber NH3 levels increased between 2 to 4 wk of age and rapidly declined when ventilation rates were increased to 1 cfm per bird. The CF and dietary treatments had little effect on air or litter variables except for NH3. Supplementing the diet with urease inhibitor resulted in a greater than 50% reduction in cumulative mortality due to ascites and a slight reduction in weekly BW gains. The CF treatment had no effect on production variables such as weekly feed intake, gain, and feed to gain ratio, or survivability due to ascites.
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