Applied commercially in the chicken meat industry. The results of trials conducted overseas were positive. The results of a trial conducted in Australia were negative—likely due to poor management. Success depends on management. Possible concerns: limited information.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Likely to have similar properties to rice hulls. Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry. Trials should be conducted before the commercial use of this product.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Not applied commercially as a litter, it is used as a litter amendment. Very high moisture holding capacity and low release rate may lead to caking problems. Was found to reduce ammonia emissions in trial research (Redding 2013). The results of trials conducted overseas and in Australia using bentonite as a litter were also negative. Can have significant clumping and dust issues.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Possible bird and human health concerns if used as a litter.
View ResourceNot applied commercially in the chicken meat industry.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: The unprocessed cashew contains toxins inside shell.
Charcoal and biochar are highly absorbent by-products. They have not been used or trialled for chicken litter before and would require extensive testing before being applied commercially. Could be used in mixes.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Untested in Australian commercial chicken meat production.
The results of trials conducted overseas were negative. Significant clumping and management problems. Possible concerns: bird health.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Significant clumping problems and bird health concerns.
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry. Historically, there have been contamination problems, which have reduced in recent years. Provided contamination issues could be managed, this has potential as an alternative litter. The results of trials conducted overseas were negative. High footpad dermatitis and possible pesticide contaminates. Possible concerns: bird health.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Organic chemical contaminants Biological contaminants
Successfully used overseas.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Organic chemical contaminants Biological contaminants
Probably similar to hazelnut husks. 6–8% moisture content resulting in 20% more efficiency than sawdust. The results of trials conducted overseas were positive. Possible concerns: limited information.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry. Used for small animal bedding. Crushed straw pellets have a larger specific surface area than straw pellets.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Chickens naturally ingest small rock, grit, sand and/or gravel into gizzards. This caused significant problems with the processing machinery in a single-batch, crusher dust Australian trial. While sand is commonly used in meat chicken production in the USA and Israel litter is used for multiple batches, which reduces this problem overseas. However, the chickens produced are smaller/younger than Australian meat chickens.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Physical contaminants
The results of trials conducted in Australia were positive. It is highly absorbent and has insecticide and anticaking properties. Bird health and productivity was not affected by this material. It did not cause problems with processing machinery, however, it poses potential health risks to workers and industry has moved away from this material.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Long-term inhalation of the dust associated with respiratory disease.
The results of a commercial trial conducted in Australia with glass bead by-product from glass manufacturing was negative. Concern that glass looked similar to feed and chickens would ingest large quantities.
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Organic chemical contaminants Biological contaminants
View ResourceNot applied commercially as a litter, it is used as a litter amendment. The results of trials using gypsum as a litter overseas were negative. Gypsum used as a litter amendment can decrease NH₃ nutrient loss. When used as a base and top-dressed with wood shavings it functions well but poses major potential health risks to workers (dust problems).
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Possible human health concerns if used as a litter.
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry. The results of trials conducted overseas were positive. Possible concerns: bird performance.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Used as pet litter and horse bedding. Not commercially available in Australia, however this may change if hemp production increases.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Product would be similar to wood chips trialled overseas. Cypress sawdust is already used in commercial chicken farms. INS is chipped or shaved hardwood, which means the most likely influencing factor will be chip/shaving size and the amount of contamination. Possible concerns: limited information.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Untested in Australian commercial chicken meat production.
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry.
POTENTIAL HAZARDS: Biological contaminants
Not applied commercially in the chicken meat industry.
