Beef cattle have the ability to digest low-cost feedstuffs that are not usable by other livestock species. One such feedstuff is poultry litter, which provides opportunities or both the poultry producer and the beef cattle producer.New 2/01/5M; Revised 10/0

Daniel, Jay

Olson, KC, M. S., Ph. D.

University of Missouri: MOspace

Beef cattle have the ability to digest low-cost feed-stuffs that are not usable by other livestock species. Onesuch feedstuff is poultry litter, which provides oppor-tunities for both the poultry producer and the beef cattleproducer. The large quantities of litter produced duringmodern poultry production are expensive to dispose ofsafely; moreover, protein is typically the most expensiveingredient in ruminant diets. Feeding poultry litter is ameans of disposing of a waste product while concur-rently supplying a low-cost protein feed to beef cattle.Regulations on feeding poultry litterPoultry litter can be used as a feedstuff, but itpresents special consumer issues that must beaddressed. There are currently no federal or Missouriregulations governing the use of poultry litter as a feed-stuff; however, certain common-sense guidelines apply.Poultry litter should not be fed to dairy cattle or beefcattle less than 21 days before slaughter. The reason forthis prohibition is that the residues of certain pharma-ceuticals used in poultry production may be present inpoultry litter.Processing of poultry litterTo control pathogens that could be present in rawpoultry litter, litter should be processed before it is fedto beef cattle. The following processing methods may beused:1. Ensiling with chopped, whole-plant corn or anotherroughage. Fermentation increases the acidity of theensiled mass, lowering the pH to 4.7 or below,which kills pathogens that might be present. Themoisture content of litter should be about 40 percentfor ensiling. Poultry litter should be mixed withroughage at 30 percent or less of the dry weight ofthe ensiled mass during silo filling.2. Spraying with propionic or acetic acid to lower thepH to 4.7. This provides an additional energy sourcefor cattle.3. Pelleting will heat the poultry litter to temperaturesthat kill potential pathogens.4. Deep stacking to a height of 6 to 8 feet for a mini-mum of 3 weeks. Microbial processes will cause thepoultry litter to heat to temperatures of 140 degreesF or more. Temperatures above this level killpathogens.Deep stackingDeep stacking poultry litter involves piling litter ina 6- to 8-foot stack, where it undergoes a fermentationprocess analogous to ensiling. The litter should containat least 20 percent moisture by weight for optimal deepstacking. The litter will spontaneously heat to 130–160degrees F in the stack, killing any pathogenic organismsin the litter. Temperatures higher than 160 degreesshould be avoided because a spontaneous chemicalreaction will render protein in the litter less digestibleto beef cattle. This chemical process, termed the Maillardreaction, involves the irreversible binding of certainamino acid residues in proteins with sugars. The resultis that the protein becomes impervious to attack bydigestive enzymes. Limiting the amount of oxygen inG 2077MU GuideAGRICULTURALPUBLISHED BY MU EXTENSION, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA muextension.missouri.eduBeef FeedingFeeding Poultry Litter to Beef CattleJay Daniel and K.C. OlsonDivision of Animal SciencesAs a result of the first case of bovine spongiformencephalopathy (BSE) in the United States inDecember 2003, the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) temporarily banned the feeding of poultry litter tobeef cattle. The temporary ban was put in place toallow the FDA time to assess the risks to human healthassociated with the practice. Ruminant protein waspermitted to be fed to poultry at the time the temporaryban was put in place. Some scientists were concernedthat the infectious agents of BSE could be passed tobeef cattle via spilled feed or manure. Since that time,FDA has mandated the removal of all tissues that havebeen shown to carry infectious agents of BSE (i.e.,specified risk materials) from poultry diets. As a result,the practical possibility of transmitting BSE to beefcattle via poultry litter was deemed to be zero by FDA.Poultry litter was again approved as a feedstuff for beefcattle in October 2005.                           the deep stack by packing the litter with a tractor andby covering the litter with plastic sheeting (6-milpolyethylene) will prevent the poultry litter from gettingtoo hot during fermentation. Poultry litter can be storedin this form for up to five years with little loss of quality.Common storage structures for deep-stacked poul-try litter include open-sided pole barns, three-sidedcommodity sheds, free-standing clamp silos coveredwith 6-mil polyethylene and weighted with discardedautomobile tires, and bunker or trench silos. To mini-mize the probability of spontaneous combustion, avoidstacking poultry litter beyond 4 to 5 feet high in areaswhere the litter will be in contact with wood or otherpotentially combustible material.Foreign objectsPoultry litter should be free of any metal, glass,rocks, and other foreign objects if it is to be fed to beefcattle. These materials are usually incorporated into thepoultry litter during removal, loading, and transport ofthe poultry litter from the poultry production facility.Care must be taken to avoid incorporating foreignobjects into poultry litter intended for cattle feed.Accidental consumption of metal objects or glass by beefcattle can result in decreased animal performance anddeath. Metal can be removed from poultry litter withmagnetic plates on the discharge chute of a mixerwagon. Producers feeding small numbers of cattle canpass the litter through a screen to remove large objects.Poultry litter often contains high levels of ash. Ashis composed of inorganic mineral matter. A high levelof ash in poultry litter is usually caused by contamina-tion with soil and gravel. Poultry litter should not be fedto beef cattle if the level of ash is greater than 28 percent.Large amounts of soil and gravel in poultry litter maycause impaction of the rumen or abomasum. Additionof metal, glass, soil, rocks, and animal carcasses shouldbe avoided in removing the poultry litter from theproduction facility. Care in this stage of handling canminimize poultry litter contamination.PathogensSeveral pathogenic organisms, such as Salmonellatyphimurium, Escherichia coli, or Clostridium botulinum,may be present in poultry litter. The presence of thesepathogens usually results from inclusion of animalcarcasses in the poultry litter. Poultry litter with a pHbetween 7.2 and 8.6 and heated to a temperature above130 degrees F will inactivate C. botulinum toxin inapproximately 5 days. Heating of poultry litter to 140degrees for 5 days will kill most other pathogens thatmay be associated with poultry litter. To ensure thatpathogenic organisms are destroyed, poultry littershould be deep-stacked for at least 21 days.Mycotoxins, such as alflatoxin, are not a problem inpoultry litter because pH is usually unfavorable formold growth, but other bioresidues may be cause forconcern. Heart failure has been observed in cattleconsuming extremely high levels of poultry litter (22pounds per head per day) with little or no hay orpasture. Heart failure, in that particular case, was causedby high coccidostat residues in the poultry litter and bya deficiency of vitamin E and selenium.Nutritional value of poultry litterThe nutritional value of poultry litter varies greatlyacross time and among sources. Table 1 summarizes thenutritional value of poultry litter samples from Alabamaand Georgia. Generally, the total digestible nutrient(TDN) value of poultry litter approximates 50 percentand crude protein averages 21 to 28 percent. The proteinin poultry litter may be extensively bound in Maillardreaction products when litter is improperly ensiled ordeep-stacked. This spontaneous process decreases theavailability of the protein in the rumen and small intes-tine of beef cattle. Additionally, much of the nitrogen inpoultry litter is in the form of non-protein nitrogen (uricacid, urea, and ammonia) and is therefore of lowerbiological value than true protein.MoistureAlthough moisture level does not affect the nutri-tional value of poultry litter, water content of about 20Page 2 G 2077 University of Missouri Extension Table 1. Nutrient values of 106 poultry litter samples from Alabama and 86 poultry litter samples from Georgia.Nutrients (dry basis)Georgia AlabamaAverage Range Average Range Moisture, % 21.9 10.1–43.4 19.5 4.70–39TDN, % N/A N/A 50.0 36–64Crude protein, % 27.9 15.0–41.5 24.9 15–38Bound protein, % 4.1 1.4–13.2 N/A N/ACrude fiber, % N/A N/A 23.6 11–52 Minerals Aluminum, ppm 3,957 684–9,919 N/A N/AAsh, % 30.4 14.4–69.2 24.7 9–54Calcium, % 3.0 1.1–8.1 2.3 0.81–6.13Copper, ppm 557 52–1,306 473 25–1,003Iron, ppm N/A N/A 2,377 529–12,604Magnesium, % 0.63 0.27–1.75 0.52 0.19–0.88Manganese, ppm N/A N/A 348 125–667Phosphorus, % 2.1 1.0–5.3 1.6 0.56–3.92Potassium, % 3.0 1.0–4.7 2.3 0.73–5.17Sodium, ppm 8,200 3,278–14,344 N/A N/ASulfur, % N/A N/A 0.5 0.22–0.83Zinc, ppm 484 160–1,422 315 106–669 Note:  N/A = not available.  Source:  Adapted from Ruffin, B. G., and T. A. McCaskey. 1991.  Feeding broiler litter to beef cattle . Alabama Cooperative Extension Service ANR-557, and from Martin, S. A., M. A. McCann, and W. D. Waltman. 1997.  Microbiological survey of Georgia poultry litter.  UGA Animal & Dairy Science 1997 Annual Report.                 percent is desirable for several reasons. Litter with mois-ture levels greater than 25 percent will not move effi-ciently through augers or other feed-handling devicesand is prone to excessive heating when deep stacked.Poultry litter with moisture levels below 20 percent willnot generate sufficient heat when deep-stacked todestroy organisms that may potentially be pathogenic.Poultry litter rations with moisture levels of 10 percentor less will be excessively dusty, causing the litter to beunpalatable to cattle.Moisture can be added to poultry litter to facilitatestorage, handling and feeding by sprinkling it withwater in the poultry house before removal.Alternatively, water can be added to extremely dry poul-try litter rations just prior to feeding to increaseconsumption by cattle.Vitamin APoultry litter is normally low in vitamin A. Poultrylitter rations should be supplemented with vitamin A toensure an intake of 1,500 IU vitamin A per pound of feedconsumed by beef cattle. Supplementation of the dietwith high-quality forage (i.e., more than 12 percentcrude protein and more than 60 percent TDN) or allow-ing poultry litter-fed cattle to graze can also ensure thatthe cattle receive sufficient dietary vitamin A.CalciumFeeding poultry litter before calving may predis-pose cows to milk fever, also known as parturient pare-sis or hypocalcemia. Although nutrient analyses in Table1 do not indicate a calcium-phosphorous imbalance,cases of milk fever in brood cows consuming poultrylitter are common enough to cause concern. Removal ofpoultry litter from the diet of gestating cows 30 daysbefore calving will reduce the risk of milk fever. Milkfever can continue to be a problem after calving in cowswith high genetic potential for milk production. Safetyconcerns dictate that all cows consuming poultry litterduring late gestation or early lactation be observedfrequently for signs of milk fever. Symptoms includemuscle stiffness and tremors, extreme weakness and lossof consciousness.CopperPoultry litter is normally high in copper (Table 1).The excess copper can accumulate in the liver of litter-fed cattle and result in potentially fatal toxicity, symp-toms of which include jaundice and extremely darkblood. A mature cow can be fed up to 600 ppm copperfor 120 days. To prevent copper toxicity, poultry littershould be fed to cows only for short periods. Periodicinterruptions in poultry litter feeding will allow theexcess copper to be cleared from the liver and toxicityproblems can be avoided. Poultry litter can be fed tostocker cattle for up to 180 days before copper toxicitybecomes a risk. Poultry litter should not be fed to sheepbecause of that species high susceptibility to copperpoisoning.RationsPoultry litter should be supplemented with anenergy source. Although several different energysources can be used, corn is most common. The produc-tion level of the cattle being fed poultry litter and thequality of the poultry litter influence the amount ofenergy needed in the ration. General guidelines forpoultry litter rations are to supply 10 to 20 percent, 30to 35 percent, and 50 percent, of the dry diet as corn fordry cows, lactating cows, and stocker calves, respec-tively. The addition of corn will increase the palatabilityand acceptance of the poultry litter ration. The cornadded to poultry litter rations should be cracked orrolled to improve mixing characteristics and preventsorting and wastage. Poultry litter-corn rations of thistype should also be supplemented with vitamin A anda high- to moderate-quality forage. Bovatec orRumensin can be added to poultry litter rations toimprove feed efficiency.SummaryPoultry litter is an acceptable source of protein forbeef cattle, and it is typically inexpensive relative toother high-protein feedstuffs. Rations containing poul-try litter should be carefully balanced to ensure thatnutritional requirements of cattle are met and that thepotential for mineral excesses is minimized. Keep inmind that feeding poultry litter to beef cattle, while asound nutritional management option, carries with itcertain stigmas that may cause beef consumers tobecome alarmed. Proper processing and storage toinhibit growth of pathogenic organisms and preventincorporation of pharmaceutical residues are essentialto ensure that poultry litter is a safe and high-qualityfeed for beef cattle.University of Missouri Extension G 2077 Page 3K.C. Olson is a State Beef Nutrition Specialist. Jay Danielis a graduate research assistant in animal sciences.                Page 4 G 2077 New 2/01/5M; Revised 10/05n Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department ofAgriculture. Thomas A. Henderson, Interim Director, Cooperative Extension, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65211. n University of MissouriExtension does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or status as a Vietnamera veteran in employment or programs. n If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and need this publicationin an alternative format, write ADA Officer, Extension and Agricultural Information, 1-98 Agriculture Building, Columbia, MO 65211, or call (573)882-7216. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your special needs.       

Feeding poultry litter to beef cattle (2005)

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