The Effect of Vermiculite as Litter Material on Some Health and Stress Parameters in Broilers

This study was conducted to determinine the effect of vermiculite as the litter material on some health and stress parameters such as alanin aminotransferaz (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), glucose (GLU), cholesterol (CHOL), superoxide dismutases (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), footpad burn (FPB), gait score (GS), tonic immobility duration (TI) and feathering score (FS) in broilers. In present study, 195 day-old chickens were divided into three treatment groups placed on litter materials such as woodshavings (WS), mixture of woodshavings-vermiculite (WSV) and vermiculite (V), respectively. The experiment lasted for 42 days. At the end of the experiment, it was ascertained that the litter material did not have significant effect on ALT, AST, TP, ALB, GLU, CHOL, CAT and feathering score, but had significant effect on FPB, GS, TI, SOD and MDA values (P<0.01). FPB and GS were lower in the pens littered with V and WSV than in the pen littered with WS. The foot health was positively affectef by the use of V and WSV as litter material. TI of WS group was longer than those of V and WSV groups. SOD, MDA values from oxidative stress parameters were found lower (P<0.01) in the V and WSV groups than that of WS group. Consequently, vermiculite may be used as litter material in the rearing of broiler without adverse health problem.