우사의 수분조절능력 향상을 위한 깔짚소재별 수분흡수속도 평가

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The most common litter materials used in South Korea are sawdust, rice husk, etc. Recently, the cost of litter has been steadily rising, and the maturity test has been strengthened. For this reason, new litter ma-terials are needed for better water control ability to solve the problems. The object of this study was to evaluate the water absorption properties for litter materials. METHODS AND RESULTS: The volumetric water ca-pacity according to the addition of cow manure was inves-tigated to calculate the water absorption speed of litter materials (sawdust, peatmoss, cocopeat, and biochar). The water absorption speed constant (-K) in the first stage was high in the order of cocopeat (0.1190), sawdust (0.0961), biochar (0.0762), and peatmoss (0.0523). The optimal period of the litter use was in the following order: peatmoss (48d), biochar (42d), sawdust (30d), and coco-peat (24d). The water absorption rate (%) of the used lit-ters was high in the order of biochar ≈ cocopeat, sawdust, and peatmoss, which was significantly correlated with the water absorption speed of the first stage. CONCLUSION(S): Considering the water absorption speed and water absorption rate, biochar and peatmoss were found to be the best and optimal litter materials among the tested materials. These litter materials can be used as water control agents in livestock facilities.