Table 4. Effects of the moisture absorbent on the moisture contents of litter and footpad dermatitis score of broilers¹

Weeks	NC	PC	W1	W2	W3	SEM²	P-Value
----------- Moisture content of litter (%) -----------
1	30.9	29.8	32.8	31.0	25.0	2.36	0.20
3	58.0	55.5	56.8	58.6	55.2	2.01	0.70
5	65.7^a	54.7^b	54.3^b	56.7^b	53.0^b	2.05	<0.05
----------- Foot pad dermatitis score-----------
1	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.000	1.00
3	0.95^a	0.83^ab	0.43^b	0.68^ab	0.60^ab	0.123	<0.05
5	2.38^a	1.23^b	1.68^b	1.70^b	1.38^b	0.133	<0.05

NC, untreated control; PC, 3-week-old litter treatment; W1, 0-week-old application of the moisture absorbent; W2, 0 and 3-week-old application of the moisture absorbent; W3, 3-week-old application of the moisture absorbent.
Standard error of means.