The purpose of this study was to investigate the egg freshness and eggshell characteristics of old laying hens by adding sea urchin shell powder to the feed of such hens to achieve the objectives continuously pursued by environmental management, such as business profitability and waste resource utilization. A total of 90 Hy-Line Brown layers (66 weeks of age) were randomly divided into 2 treatments with 3 replicates, each of which consisted of 15 older layers, for 4 weeks. These treatments included a control (i.e., 0%) and 2% sea urchin shell powder. The 2% supplementation of sea urchin shell powder increased the Haugh unit (HU) at 2 and 4 weeks and eggshell strength at 4 wks compared to the controls (p<0.05). The HU at 0 weeks, eggshell thickness from 0 through 3 weeks, and eggshell strength at 0 and 2 weeks were not different between treatments (p>0.05). These results suggest that the addition of 2% sea urchin powder to the feed of laying hens improves egg freshness and eggshell strength in old laying hens.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sea urchin shell powder, used in broiler diet, on Esherichia coli and Salmonella in litter produced by the broilers. A total of 120 broiler chickens were fed 1 of 3 treatment diets (10 chickens per pen) in a randomized block design treatments with 4 replications. Sea urchin shell powder was used in the concentrations of 0.5% and 1% in the basal diets; the control diet was constituted of basal diet. During the 3-week feeding trials, none of the treatments significantly affected the E. coli populations in poultry litter at weeks 0 and 1, nor did they affect the and S. enterica populations at weeks 1 and 3. However, dietary sea urchin shell powder addition affected the population of E. coli at weeks 2 and 3, and that of S. entericaat weeks 0 and 2 (P<0.05). It is therefore concluded that the use of dietary sea urchin shell powder (0.5% and 1%) will be beneficial enough to reduce E. coli, rather than S. enterica in poultry litter over short-term periods.

We investigated the effects of sea urchin shell powder on 2 volatile fatty acids, acetic and butyric acid, in poultry litter. A total of 60 1-d-old male broiler chicks (Arbor Acres) were allocated to 2 treatments (basal diet and 1% sea urchin shell powder) with 3 replicates of 10 birds each. During the 4-week experimental period, significant differences in acetic acid and butyric acid concentrations were observed between treatments (P < 0.05), except for acetic acid at 1 week. Additions of 1% sea urchin shell powder resulted in lower acetic and butyric acid concentrations compared to the litter of control birds. We conclude that the sea urchin shell powder used in this study might prove beneficial in reducing environmental pollution caused by poultry litter.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of sea urchin shell powder on nitrogen characteristics in poultry litter by assigning ninety 1-d-old male broiler chicks (Arbor Acres) to one of 3 treatments (control, 1% sea urchin shell powder, and 1% feed additives) in 3 replicates of 10 birds each. For all treatments, the overall dry matter contents were decreased (P < 0.05) as time increased, except for at 1 week. When compared with controls, the dietary sea urchin shell powder and feed additives for 0 and 3 weeks did influence their TN contents, but not for 1, 2 and 4 weeks. The treatments with sea urchin shell powder and feed additives had a significant (P < 0.05) influence on NH3-N in poultry litter compared with controls. However, at 4 weeks, no marked differences were observed in NH3-N contents among treatments. Treatments with 1% sea urchin shell powder might enhance the value of poultry litter as N fertilizer