Spent Compost from Mushroom Cultivation Is Suitable As Cattle Feed

News source: Veterinary Research Institute, Malaysia.
See PDF file for e-mail address., 2002-11-01

Spent Straw after Mushrooms Has High Protein Content

The compost bed used as a growing medium for mushroom cultivation is prepared using rice straw mixed with various organic, and inorganic compounds. After the mushrooms have been harvested, two to six weeks after culturing, the spent straw (compost) is left, together with some of the mushroom's mycelium. This has a crude protein content of 14%, compared to more than 40% in the mushrooms themselves.

Spent Straw in Cattle Diet

An average mushroom cultivation facility discards about 200 mt of spent compost each week. This constitutes a very large amount of by-products. A trial using 20, 40 and 60% of the spent straw in a feed mixture for young cattle proved that it was suitable. The spent straw has no harmful effects when consumed by animals, as it is a policy in Malaysia to sterilize the by-product at 77^oC before it is discarded

Spent Straw Improves Feed Intake and Performance

Incorporation of 40% of the spent straw was found to give the best results. Young bull calves fed on 40% spent straw showed a weight gain of 0.40 kg per day, with a total daily DM intake of 6.24 kg of the feed. This spent straw is thus very valuable as a cattle feed, especially since its use transforms a food by-product into a useful resource. Animals have a higher feed intake and better performance when fed the spent straw, compared to when they are given just the untreated straw.

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