Honors College Thesis
 

The effect of feeding spent hemp biomass on bone growth in broiler chickens

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  • Spent hemp biomass (SHB) is a byproduct of the cannabinoid oil production which currently is not approved as a livestock feed ingredient. The 2018 Farm Bill defined the difference between varieties of the cannabis sativa plant as either non-hemp cannabis or hemp which has equal to or less than 0.3 percent of the active compound THC. This legislation legalized hemp production on the national level and opened the legal production of the non-psychoactive CBD oil therefore also creating an excess of this SHB byproduct without a use. Previous research has found the possibility of cannabinoid interaction with bone formation, and recent studies of SHB fed to ruminants found elevated levels if alkaline phosphatase, an indicator for higher bone turnover. This study sought to determine if SHB added to the feed of Cobb 500 Cornish Cross broiler chickens would have an effect on the bone growth. Two hundred chicks at five days old were randomized into 20 pens and fed isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets containing 0, 5, 10, or 20% SHB for 42 days. After euthanasia the tibiotarsus bones were collected from each bird and the diameter, length, weight, and volume of each bone was measured. Whole blood samples were also collected to measure hematocrit. Statistical significance was deemed with P≤0.05. Since the total bodyweight of the birds was reduced with SHB dose, results were corrected with bodyweight. The diameter and length of the tibiotarsus showed a linear increase in size with SHB dose but there was no significant change to the weight or volume. The data indicated that SHB added to the diet of broiler chickens did have a positive effect on the growth of the tibiotarsus bone. This cannot be interpreted to mean that the bones were in any way stronger or healthier however as the lack of change to weight and volume indicating the possibility for change to the density or internal structure of the bone. Due to the complexity of bone formation and remodeling processes, further parameters must be evaluated to determine the full meaning of these effects.
  • Keywords: Cannabinoids, spent hemp biomass, bone, broilers
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