In many places, poultry farms are sited and intensively managed in the residential areas with little welfare improvement and major concern of poultry waste disposal. The mean poultry litter generated per bird/day was estimated at 0.11 kg so that millions of metric tons of poultry manure are annually generated. Wastes generated from poultry farms constitute hazard to public health as well as potential source of conflict between neighbours. Beside environmental consequences, poultry waste impacts serious welfare and production effects on poultry. Suitable poultry droppings and moist absorbents referred to as litter materials were later discovered. Recently, conventional caging of birds is considered unethical, common litter materials are seasonally available, wood based litter materials are now being diverted for the manufacture of other wood products, the use of poultry litter as fertilizer and livestock feed supplement has increased, therefore, the demand and price for litter materials is now magnified. Adequate litter materials cannot be easily met by farmers and non-environmentally friendly alternative litter materials may be sought by farmers creating negative socioeconomic impacts on poultry and the environment. Therefore, careful selection, adequate management and proper storage and utilization of poultry litter are here given due attention.Many research works were conducted to determine the suitability of wood shavings, sand, pine peanut shells, shavings, shredded papers or paper chips, dry straw, rice hulls, maize cobs, corn silage and peat as alternative litter materials [7,21,22]. Timber by-products, rice hulls and shredded papers appear to be most accessible worldwide. The basic requirements of a good litter include moisture holding capacity, microbial tolerating ability, low cost, availability and non-toxicity to poultry [23,24]. Bases for choosing good litter materials should include the ability to protect birds from dirt, damp and cold floor; it should also be able to adequately conserve heat and absorb moisture. For good production performance, litter materials should provide comfort for birds [24,25].
