Effect of sodium bisulphate in litter and low protein diet supplemented with proteolytic enzyme on ammonia concentration, growth parameters and litter quality of broiler during summer season

Increased ammonia concentration in the poultry house does not only affect poultry bird performance but also harms the person’s working there. To study the effect of sodium bisulphate in litter and protease enzyme supplementation in a low protein diet 240 (day old) commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups, having 3 replicates of 20 chicks each. No dietary and litter amendments were done in control group (Tc) whereas experiment groups included litter amended with sodium bisulphate @ 25 g/sq.ft. (Ts), dietary amendment with 2% low protein supplemented with protease enzyme @ 15000 units/Kg of feed (Tp) and both litter and dietary amendments (Tsp). Results indicated a significant (P<0.05) lower ammonia concentration in the litter treated groups Ts and Tsp when compared to the control and Tp group. The moisture content and pH of the treated and the control litter had a significant (P<0.05) difference, clearly revealing the proficiency of litter treatment to ameliorate the quality of litter thus in turn the ambient environment of the bird. The average body weight of chicks was highest (P<0.05) in the Ts group followed closely by Tsp and Tp than the control group. The growing chicks significantly gained more bodyweight with better FCR, PER, and EER in the same order of succession. It can be concluded that litter amendment with sodium bisulphate @ 25g per square feet had a significant influence concentration of ammonia, litter quality, and in turn on the growth of broiler chicks.