Effect of lime and nitrifying bacteria in the reduction of ammonia for the management of poultry.

• Main Author: Medrana, Anna Margarita M.
• Format: Theses and Dissertations NonPeerReviewed
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: QH301 Biology; QL Zoology; QR Microbiology
• Online Access: http://thesis.dlsud.edu.ph/464/7/MedranaA%20...%20-%20Lime.pdf; http://thesis.dlsud.edu.ph/464/
• Institution: De La Salle University

Cases of morbidity and mortality in poultry due to ammonia were recorded in several farms in Batangas province. Several strategies were employed but the costs were too high and the net profit becomes minimal. The study was conducted to assess the effect of lime and nitrifying bacteria in the reduction of ammonia for the management of poultry. Treatment set ups were prepared such as (T ) soil + chicken manure + lime, (T ) soil + chicken manure + nitrifying bacteria, (T ) soil + chicken manure + lime + nitrifying bacteria. T served as control with soil and chicken manure only. The set ups were observed in mason jars for the in vitro set up and plastic jars for the in situ set-up wherein ammonia was measured in three consecutive weeks in the in vitro and two weeks in the in situ. Ammonia was measured using titration method before and after the addition of lime and nitrifying bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria were isolated from the soil samples using ammonium nitrate medium. For the in vitro set-up, the results showed that 108.4 mg/NH3 per 200g of soil was extracted from the set-up without lime and nitrifying bacteria. After 21 days of incubation with lime, ammonia significantly decreased (p<0.05) to 35.4 mg/NH3 per 200g of soil whereas a significant decrease (p<0.05) to 0.17 mg/NH3 per 200g of soil was observed in set-up with nitrifying bacteria. In the presence of both lime and nitrifying bacteria, there was a significant decrease (p<0.05) to 0.34 mg/NH3 per 200g of soil was observed. The result inthe in situ set-up validates the results of the in vitro set-up. The combination of NB and lime has significantly reduced (p<0.05) the amount of ammonia produced over 14 days of incubation. From 171.65 to 10.15 mg/NH3 per 200g of soil was observed.It can be concluded that the addition of both lime and nitrifying bacteria or nitrifying bacteria alone reduces the ammonia produced. The results indicate that a low-cost strategy of using nitrifying bacteria can be applied in poultry houses to minimize mortality of chicken caused by ammonia. The objectives of the study are: to assess the ammonia concentrations in the treatment set-ups, observe the difference between the use of lime and nitrifying bacteria on the in in vitro and in situ set-ups, observe if there is a correlation between the nitrifying bacteria and the concentration of lime and nitrifying bacteria in the in vitro set-up and observe if there is a correlation between the nitrifying bacteria and the concentration of lime and nitrifying bacteria in the in situ set-up.