Going Against the Grain

Going Against the Grain

In their short lives, commercially raised chickens eat a lot of phosphorous, a nutrient that helps their muscles and bones grow. They also produce a lot of manure.

Putting two and together, that means manure contains a lot of phosphorous. Chicken manure is often used as fertilizer, and phosphorous-containing runoff from fields can pollute streams and ponds and the water supply.

This is a problem in areas with large commercial chicken operations. Now scientists at the University of Delaware, working with the United

States Department of Agriculture and researchers from companies with a stake in the chicken industry, have found a way to reduce the amount of phosphorous in manure.

The scientists have developed a corn hybrid that contains more phosphorous that can be digested by the chickens.

Regular corn contains a lot of the elements, but much of it is bound to phytic acid and cannot be absorbed by the birds. The hybrid contains less of the acid, and thus more of the phosphorous in the corn is available. The researchers also fed the chickens an enzyme that helps break down the phytic acid and make even more of the phosphorous digestible.