INDICATORS OF THE MICROBIOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF BROILER CHICKEN DROPPINGS WITH LITTER DURING DIFFERENT STORAGE TIMES
Authors: Kovtun P. V. , Merzlov S. V. 
Published: June 2023

The increase in the population on the planet leads to an increase in the volume of food production. The high demand for poultry products leads to a rapid increase in the number of broiler chickens both in the world and in Ukraine, and at the same time to an increase in the volume of poultry waste, especially droppings and litter. Intensive and uncontrolled use of fresh broiler droppings as organic fertilizer for agricultural plants has a number of economic and ecological disadvantages. Therefore, there is a need to store (ferment) the broiler chickens droppings for a certain period of time (up to 20 months) in order to use it safely in crop production. Bacteria play an important role in the course of enzymatic processes in poultry droppings during its storage. It is of scientific interest to determine the number of bacteria in the droppings of broiler chickens with litter (cereal straw) stored for different times in the cold season. The content of microorganisms was determined in the droppings of broiler chickens. Samples were taken in January at an air temperature of 1.3 °C under the conditions of the experimental farm of the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University from droppings 2 days after unloading from poultry houses, and which was stored for 4 and 9 months in barns. The content of CFU Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp. and Escherichia coli was determined in the litter. The indicator of KMAFAnM in the droppings of broiler chickens unloaded from poultry houses was 3.5x108. Until the 4th month of storage of the droppings, the KMAFAnM indicator in it increased. For 9 months of storage, the index of KMAFAnM in the droppings of broiler chickens decreases by 58.7 times compared to the index obtained after 4 months of composting. A group of bacteria Bacillus spp. was represented by the following species: Bacillus subtilis (dominant), Bacillus mesentericus, Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus mycoides. Colonies of Bacillus spp. sown from droppings of different periods of storage were dry, with a wrinkled surface. They were colorless and light velvety in color. The edges of the colony of this bacterium were wavy. The lowest rate of CFU Bacillus spp. was found in the droppings unloaded from poultry houses. The number of CFU Bacillus spp. in droppings that was stored for 4 months was the largest. In broiler droppings that was stored for 9 months, the CFU indicator of Bacillus spp. was 10 times lower compared to droppings that was stored for 4 months. A group of bacteria Staphylococcus spp. was represented mainly by the following species: Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. CFU index of Staphylococcus spp. in the droppings unloaded from the poultry houses was 4.6x107. The largest number of CFU Staphylococcus spp. was found in droppings that were stored for 4 months. In the droppings of broiler chickens after 4 months of storage, the CFU index of Streptococcus spp. was greater than at the beginning of storage by 28.8 times and by 53.1 times relative to the droppings stored for 9 months. Research on the detection of Escherichia coli bacteria in the droppings of broiler chickens had a negative result regardless of the time of storage of poultry droppings. CFU Escherichia coli were not detected.