Manure from biochar, bentonite and zeolite feed supplemented poultry: Moisture retention and granulation properties

Walsh, KB ORCiD: 0000-0002-3033-8622© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. Feeding treatments were imposed in two feeding trials involving Cobb broiler and Bond Brown layer birds. Three feed additives (biochar, bentonite and zeolite) were supplied at four rates (0, 1, 2 and 4% w/w) in feed, as previously considered in the context of animal production, was considered in the context of Excreta chemical and water retention properties and granulation characteristics of decomposed excreta (manure) were characterised. At field capacity (- 0.01 MPa), manure produced from control and 4% bentonite diets contained significantly (p = 0.001) more water (at 1.93 and 2.44% v/v water, respectively) than zeolite and biochar treatments. Manure mesoporosity was significantly (p = 0.015) higher in 2 and 4% bentonite treatments than other feed additives. Fresh excreta from layer birds on the control diet contained 6% w/dw N and 35% C, which was decreased to 2.6% N and 28% C after decomposition, with C:N ratio changing from 5.9 to 12.1. Ammonia loss was higher from biochar and zeolite manures than control or bentonite, associated with higher pH in the biochar and zeolite manures. More N was unaccounted from bentonite manure than other treatments, presumably lost as N 2 O or N 2 , a result linked to its higher moisture content and its enhanced rate of denitrification. The highest proportion of granules in the size class desired for fertilizer spreading was achieved using decomposed manure from the 1 and 2% w/w biochar treatments of the broiler trial, and 1 and 2% zeolite and 4% biochar treatments of the layer trial. Thus the feed amendments improved poultry manure in specific ways

Physiotherapy for a patient with a chronic malnutrition on intensive care ward

A range of feed supplements, including antibiotics, have been commonly used in poultry production to improve health and productivity. Alternative methods are needed to suppress pathogen loads and maintain productivity. As an alternative to antibiotics use, we investigated the ability of biochar, bentonite and zeolite as separate 4% feed additives, to selectively remove pathogens without reducing microbial richness and diversity in the gut. Neither biochar, bentonite nor zeolite made any significant alterations to the overall richness and diversity of intestinal bacterial community. However, reduction of some bacterial species, including some potential pathogens was detected. The microbiota of bentonite fed animals were lacking all members of the order Campylobacterales. Specifically, the following operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were absent: an OTU 100% identical to Campylobacter jejuni; an OTU 99% identical to Helicobacter pullorum; multiple Gallibacterium anatis (>97%) related OTUs; Bacteroides dorei (99%) and Clostridium aldenense (95%) related OTUs. Biochar and zeolite treatments had similar but milder effects compared to bentonite. Zeolite amended feed was also associated with significant reduction in the phylum Proteobacteria. All three additives showed potential for the control of major poultry zoonotic pathogens

Zeolite food supplementation reduces abundance of enterobacteria

According to the World Health Organisation, antibiotics are rapidly losing potency in every country of the world. Poultry are currently perceived as a major source of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. There is an urgent need for new and natural ways to control pathogens in poultry and humans alike. Porous, cation rich, aluminosilicate minerals, zeolites can be used as a feed additive in poultry rations, demonstrating multiple productivity benefits. Next generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA marker gene was used to phylogenetically characterize the fecal microbiota and thus investigate the ability and dose dependency of zeolite in terms of anti-pathogenic effects. A natural zeolite was used as a feed additive in laying hens at 1, 2, and 4% w/w for a 23 week period. At the end of this period cloacal swabs were collected to sample faecal microbial communities. A significant reduction in carriage of bacteria within the phylum Proteobacteria, especially in members of the pathogen-rich family Enterobacteriaceae, was noted across all three concentrations of zeolite. Zeolite supplementation of feed resulted in a reduction in the carriage of a number of poultry pathogens without disturbing beneficial bacteria. This effect was, in some phylotypes, correlated with the zeolite concentration. This result is relevant to zeolite feeding in other animal production systems, and for human pathogenesis

Bacterial families significantly (<i>p</i><0.05) differed between birds fed control diet (Ctrl) and groups with feed supplemented with biochar (BC), bentonite (BT) and zeolite (ZT).

<p>The families altered were members of order Actinomycetales (marked with “Act” above the bar chart) or phylum Proteobacteria’s <u>Alpha</u>proteobacteria, <u>Beta</u>proteobacteria, <u>Eps</u>ilonproteobacteria or <u>Gamma</u>proteobacteria (also <u>marked</u> above the bar chart). Families induced in BT Bradyrhizobiaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, are plant-associated bacteria, Sphingomonadaceae is a candidate for bioremediation and Oxalobacteraceae are known as nitrogen fixing. The bars represent standard error for n>12.</p

Influence of biochar (BC), bentonite (BT) and zeolite (ZT) feed supplementation on abundance of phylum Proteobacteria in chicken cloaca.

<p>Phylum Proteobacteria was significantly different between the three additives and control. The reduction of Proteobacteria in additive groups was due to significant alterations in two of its classes: Epsilonproteobacteria (<i>p</i> = 0.0179) and Gammaproteobacteria (<i>p</i> = 0.0191) (top right panel). The Epsilonproteobacteria was comprised of only two genera—<i>Campylobacter</i> and <i>Helicobacter</i> (bottom row), each represented with only one species. <i>Campylobacter</i> OTU269490 was 100% identical to <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> subsp. <i>jejuni</i> NCTC 11168 = ATCC 700819 strain, while <i>Helicobacter</i> OTU574168, (not significantly altered, <i>p</i> = 0.4758), was identified as 99% identical <i>H</i>. <i>pullorum</i>. <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> was reduced from mean of relative abundance 0.0013, equalling 1.3%, in control diet fed birds to mean of 0.02% in BC, completely absent in BT and down to 0.016% in ZT. The bars represent standard error for n>12.</p

Bacterial genera significantly (<i>p</i><0.05) differed between birds fed control diet (Ctrl) and groups with feed supplemented with biochar (BC), bentonite (BT) and zeolite (ZT).

<p>Members of order Actinomycetales are marked with “Act” above the bars chart, while other marking indicates genera belonging to Betaproteobacteria (Beta), Epsilonproteobacteria (Eps) or Gammaproteobacteria (Gamma). The bars represent standard error for n>12.</p

OTUs significantly (p<0.05) differed between the groups with high sequence alignment identity (>95%) with known pathogenic strains.

<p>Out of 65 OTUs significantly altered between the treatment groups (Fig C in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0154061#pone.0154061.s001" target="_blank">S1 File</a>), the majority could not be provisionally assigned to species or genus level using 97% or 95% similarity cut-off. Among the phylotypes with sequence similarity >95%, some candidates showed high sequence alignment (blast against 16S microbial database) to known pathogens. Panel A shows potentially pathogenic OTUs reduced in additives while panel B shows potentially pathogenic OTUs increased in additive groups. Y axes indicate % of abundance in each group. The bars represent standard error for n>12.</p