author(s)
IA Baba, MT Banday, HM Khan, AA Khan and AM Ganai

abstract
The present study was conducted in the Division of Livestock Production and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (SKUAST- Kashmir) to assess the different physical changes in the farm of weight and volume reduction while composting of poultry form waste under the agroclimatic conditions of Kashmir Valley. Poultry farm waste in the form of poultry carcass (dead birds) and poultry litter was selected for this purpose. Four treatment recipes formulated for composting were: T₁: Poultry carcass + Poultry litter, T₂: Poultry carcass + Poultry litter + Paddy straw, T₃: Poultry carcass + Poultry litter + Effective Microbes and T₄: Poultry carcass + Poultry litter + Paddy straw + Effective Microbes. The overall highest weight reduction of 20.52 and 19.65 percent was observed in treatment group T₂ (containing paddy straw) at the end of primary and secondary stages, respectively. Similarly, overall highest volume reduction of 22.39 percent was observed in T₄ (containing paddy straw and effective microbes) at the end of primary stage and 9.17 percent in T₁ (control group) at the end of secondary stage. It was concluded that composting significantly reduces the weight as well as volume of the waste material to a significant level.