Recycled poultry bedding as cattle feed Darrell L. Rankins, Jr, PhD a, * , Matthew H. Poore, PhD b , Dawn J. Capucille, DVM, MS c , Glenn M. Rogers, DVM, MS c,1 a Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, 122 Upchurch Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA b Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Polk Hall, Campus Box 7621, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA c Department of Farm Animal Health and Resource Management, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA Recycled poultry bedding (RPB) has been referred to as poultry litter, chicken litter, broiler litter, and dried poultry waste. For this review, the term recycled poultry bedding will be used. This by-product has been fed to ruminant animals since the 1950s. In fact, the first peer-reviewed publica- tiononRPBappearedintheJournalofAnimalScienceinAugust1955and waspublishedbyP.R.NolandandassociatesfromtheUniversityofArkan- sas.TheirconclusionfromtwoexperimentswasthatRPBwasanacceptable protein source for gestating/lactating ewes or for fattening steers [1]. Like- wise,beefcattlefarmsacrosstheSouthwerefeedingRPBinthe1950s.Since that initial publication, RPB has been one of the most studied by-products fed to beef cattle. Recycled poultry bedding consists of all the material that is cleaned out ofthepoultryhouseafterremovalofthebirds.TheRPBconsistsofthebed- ding material (usually fibrous in nature, eg, wood shavings, peanut hulls, straw), spilled feed, feathers, and excreta from the birds. Much variation exists; however, most houses are cleaned after three to six broods of birds havebeenrearedinthehouse.Asmoreflocksareraisedonthebedding,the nutritional value of the bedding increases [2], with differences between thebroodandnonbroodareasofthehousebeingminimalafterfourflocks. Vet Clin Food Anim 18 (2002) 253–266 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: drankins@aces.edu (D. Rankins). 1 Present address: Pfizer Animal Health, 138 Rim Rock Road, Aledo, TX 76008, USA. 0749-0720/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved. PII:S0749-0720(02)00015-4