Abstract

RIOS DE ALVAREZ, Leyla; COMBELLAS, Josefina  and  ALVAREZ, Ramón. Revisión Uso de excretas de aves en la alimentación de ovinos. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2005, vol.23, n.2, pp.183-210. ISSN 0798-7269.

Poultry excreta (PE) are abundant and economic resources and an option to be used in sheep feeding. They have elevated contents of crude protein and are a mineral source, but may have some limitations, such as the presence of undesired objects, toxic residues, elevated contents of some elements, elevated humidity and emission of odors, which could be solved by processing with physical, chemical or biological treatments, including drying, pelleting, ensiling, etc. In sheep feeding it is possible to include PE up to levels of 50 to 60% without major effects on intake, even when mixed with other byproducts, such as corn cobs or sugar cane molasses. Live weight gains obtained with tropical lamb fed with high levels of PE are between 56.9 and 167.3 g/day. The use of PE reduce feeding costs and increase profitability of production systems, but could negatively affect animal health, altering liver enzymes levels and producing liver lesions; however, alterations in meat quality have not been reported. There is scarce information on the use of PE in sheep feeding, resulting in its empiric use by farmers that could affect human and animal health, and it is convenient to legislate on its use based on experimental results

Keywords : sheep; feeding; poultry; excreta; animal health.