Bee pollen (BP) can be a nutritional complement for animals because it improves nutrient use efficiency, increasing their absorption and accelerating animal growth, improving their productive performance. The effect of BP in broiler diet was assessed on digestibility, performance, intestinal mucosa and litter quality. To assess the digestibility, 200 birds were used in a randomized block design with four treatments (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% BP inclusion) and five replications. Four hundred (400) birds were used to assess performance, intestinal mucosa morphology and litter quality, in a completely randomized design with the four treatments and five replications. BP had a quadratic effect on apparent digestibility of dry matter and ether extract and a linear effect on calcium retention and on apparent metabolizable energy value. Including BP did not influence (P>0.05) the performance, carcass yield, and viscera or the duodenum and the jejunum at 42 d, the ileum at 21 d and litter quality up to 21 d of age. BP improved the pancreas yield, villus morphology in the duodenum and jejunum at 21 d, and in the ileum at 42 d and ammonia volatilization. As conclusion, BP at 1.5 % improves nutrient digestibility and intestinal morphology but not the productive performance.

El polen de abeja (PA) puede ser un complemento nutricional para los animales, ya que mejora la eficiencia del uso de nutrientes, lo que aumenta su absorción, acelera el crecimiento de los animales y mejora su rendimiento productivo. El efecto del PA en la dieta de pollos de engorda se evaluó sobre la digestibilidad, rendimiento, mucosa intestinal y calidad de la cama. Para evaluar la digestibilidad, se utilizaron 200 aves en un diseño de bloques al azar con cuatro tratamientos (0, 0.5, 1.0 y 1.5 °/o de inclusión de PA) y cinco repeticiones. Cuatrocientas (400) aves se utilizaron para evaluar el desempeño, la morfología de la mucosa intestinal y calidad de la cama, en un diseño completamente al azar con los cuatro tratamientos y cinco repeticiones. El polen tuvo un efecto cuadrático en la digestibilidad aparente de la materia seca y extracto etéreo y un efecto lineal sobre la retención de calcio y en el valor de la energía metabolizable aparente. La inclusión de PA no influyó (P>0.05) en el desempeño, rendimiento de la canal y las vísceras o el duodeno y el yeyuno a los 42 días, el íleon a los 21 días y la calidad de la cama hasta 21 días de edad. El PA mejoró el rendimiento del páncreas, de vellosidades, la morfología en el duodeno y el yeyuno a los 21 días, y en el íleon a los 42 días y la volatilización de amoníaco. Como conclusión, incluyendo 1.5% de polen de abeja mejora la digestibilidad de los nutrientes y la morfología intestinal, pero no el comportamiento productivo.

Foram avaliados os efeitos do tratamento da cama de frango sobre o teor de umidade, o pH, a densidade e a amônia volatilizada durante cinco lotes consecutivos de criação de frangos de corte. Foram utilizadas 640 aves por lote em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com oito tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram: 1 cama não-tratada; 2 cama submetida à compostagem dentro do galpão; 3 cama tratada com sulfato de alumínio; 4 cama tratada com gesso agrícola; 5 cama tratada com cal virgem; 6 cama tratada com calcário dolomítico; 7 cama tratada com zeolita; e 8 cama tratada com carvão vegetal. O feno de capim-elefante picado foi utilizado como cama de frango em todos os lotes. A fermentação no galpão aumentou o teor de umidade das camas no segundo e primeiro lotes aos 21 e 42 dias de criação, respectivamente. Não houve diferença na densidade entre os tratamentos. O sulfato de alumínio reduziu o pH das camas em todos os lotes aos 21 dias de criação. Aos 42 dias, o pH das camas foi reduzido nas camas contendo sulfato de alumínio e gesso agrícola no primeiro, segundo e quarto lotes. Aos 21 dias, o sulfato de alumínio reduziu a amônia volatilizada no primeiro, terceiro e quarto lotes e, aos 42 dias, houve redução da amônia volatilizada das camas contendo sulfato de alumínio no quarto lote. O sulfato de alumínio pode melhorar a qualidade da cama de frango de feno de capim-elefante picado, por reduzir o pH e a volatilização de amônia.

It was evaluated the effects of poultry litter treatment on moisture content, pH, density and volatilized ammonia for five consecutive flocks of broiler chicken breeding. It was used 640 birds per flock as a complete randomized design with eight treatments and four replicates. The treatments were the following: 1 non-treated litter; 2 litter submitted to in-house composting; 3 litter treated with aluminum sulfate; 4 litter submitted to gypsum; 5 litter treated with quicklime; 6 litter treated with dolomitic limestone; 7 litter treated with zeolite and 8 litter treated with charcoal. Chopped elephant-grass hay was used as poultry litter in all flocks. Fermentation in the shed increased moisture content of the litters in the second and first flocks on 21 and 42 days of breeding, respectively. There was no difference on density among treatments. Aluminum sulfate reduced pH of the litters in all flocks at 21 days of breding. On 42 days of breeding, pH of the litters was reduced in the litters with aluminum sulfate and gypsum in the first, second and forth flocks. On 21 days, aluminum sulfate reduced the volatilized ammonia in the first, third and forth flocks, and on 42 days, there was a reduction of volatilized ammonia in the litters with aluminum sulfate in the forth flock. Aluminum sulfate can improve quality of poultry litter of chopped elephant-grass hay by reducing pH and ammonia volatilization.