ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of graded levels of activated or non-activated rock shell (Thais coronata) on ammonia reduction in a poultry farm using 60 6-weeks-old broiler birds in a 2 x 5 factorial in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment. Activated and nonactivated rock shell were included in broiler diets at five levels of 0%, 0.025%, 0.050%, 0.075%, 0.1% with 6 birds per treatment and each treatment was replicated twice with 3 birds per replicate. Odour perception procedure and nitrogen yield of faeces were used in estimating ammonia reduction potential of Thais coronata. Under the perception procedure, there were no significant (P>0.05) activation main effect, but there were significant (P<0.05) inclusion level main effect. 0% level had similar rating (28.75) as 0.025% (24.50) but was higher (P<0.05) than the ratings of 0.05% (19.25), 0.075% (21.25) and 0.1% (22.75) levels. Also there were significant (P<0.05) interaction effect. Treatment 1 (O% activated) had similar value as Treatments 2 (0.025% activated), 3 (0.05% activated), 4 (0.075% activated) as well as 6 (0% non-activated), 7 (0.025% non-activated) and 10 (0.1% nonactivated) but higher (P<0.05) than the value of Treatments 5 (0.1% activated), 8 (0.05% non-activated) and 9 (0.075% non-activated. There were significant (P<0.05) activation main effect. The non-activated form of Thais coronata encouraged higher yield of nitrogen (44.70%) from the faeces than the activated form. Also, there were significant (P<0.05) inclusion level main effect. The 0% inclusion level encouraged a higher (P<0.05) nitrogen yield than all other levels (0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075% and 0.1%), which were themselves similar (P>0.05). There were significant (P<0.05) interaction (Activation x Inclusion Level) effect. Treatments 2 and 4 (0.025% Activated and 0.075% Activated, respectively) had the lowest (P<0.05) yields of ammonia in faeces. The values were however, similar to the values of yields from Treatments 3 (0.05% Activated), 5 (0.075% Activated), 7 (0.025% Nonactivated), 8 (0.05% Non-activated), and 10 (0.1% Non-activated) but lower (P<0.05) than the yields of Treatments 1 (0% Activated), 6 (0% Nonactivated), and 9 (0.075% Non-activated). These results indicated that rock shell (Thais coronata) had potential effectiveness of reducing ammonia concentration in a poultry farm.