Three experiments were conduced with the purpose of evaluating the effect of the addition of probiotics in the diet of broilers on the characteristics of reused litter and lesions of chest, knee and feet. Eight hundred male chicks, one day old, from Ross Commercial Breeding, were utilized in each experiment. The animals were housed in 20 pens in a populational density of 10 birds/m². The experimental design was completely randomized and the treatments were organized in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (new or reused litter x diet with or without probiotic). The probiotic used in the feed was composed by Bacillus subtilis and B. coagulans (2x10(9) and 1x10(7) UFC respectively). When the animals were 42 days old, four birds from each box were slaughtered for determinations of DM and N contents and for measurements of potential for ammonia volatilization and pH. The reused litter presented higher DM content, pH value and potential for ammonia volatilization, and lower N content. The probiotic used in the diet promoted a higher ammonia volatilization potential. The feet lesions were bigger in broilers raised on new litter. It was concluded that litter reused for two, three and four cycles caused less knee and feet lesions and that the use of probiotic in the diet did not promote any beneficial effect on the reused poultry litter.
Bacillus; pH; poultry litter quality; potential for ammonia volatilization
