Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Broiler Houses with Downtime Windrowed Litter

Abstract

An emerging poultry manure management practice is in-house windrowing to disinfect the litter. However, this practice is likely to increase emissions of ammonia (NH) and nitrous oxide (NO) from the windrowed litter. The objective of this study was to quantitatively compare NH and NO emissions from broiler houses with and without in-house windrowing. Two broiler houses at a commercial farm were used to compare the NH and NO emissions. Gas emission measurements were conducted continuously and simultaneously for both the control house (without windrowing) and the house with windrowing during the same production periods. The house emission rates were calculated by multiplying the hourly mean gas concentrations and the ventilation rates. The windrowed litter temperature was significantly higher than that of the control litter. The impact of downtime (the time lapse between flocks, during which the bird house is empty) windrowing litter on pathogen reduction was inconclusive because of very low or no recovery of both and spp. from control or windrowed litter samples, respectively. The windrowing house NH emissions were 26.2 and 16.6 kg d house, whereas for the control house, they were 14.6 and 12.8 kg d house in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The NO emissions from the windrowing house were also higher than those from the control house. The total NH and NO emissions from broiler houses practicing windrowing litter management were estimated to be 35.0 and 4.43 g bird, respectively, compared with 31.9 and 3.89 g bird for the control house, respectively.

Comparison of the environmental impact of growing males of a brown layer line and a fast growing broiler line – greenhouse gases, acidification, eutrophication, land and water use

“…Therefore, the level of N 2 O measured in broiler houses vary considerably. RO et al (2017) found relatively high N 2 O values in broiler production systems where the litter is composted in between several successive crops. The mean N 2 O emission varied from 4.43 to 3.89 g per bird, depending on the litter management.…”

Levantamento de aspectos e impactos ambientais na avicultura de corte: uma revisão sistemática da literatura

“…A atmosfera interna afeta diretamente a eficiência, conversão alimentar e emissão de amônia por kg de produto animal. Ro et al (2017) também atribuem uma menor taxa de NH3 à menor umidade e temperatura da cama, logo uma redução nas emissões de N2O pela conversão biológica de NH3 em N2O.…”

“…Se por um lado ocorre a redução daquantidade descartada de cama, por outro o reaproveitamento contínuo para múltiplos alojamentos resulta em aumentos acentuados na concentração de muitos constituintes físico-químicos como nitratos e fósforo que são potencialmente preocupantes para a saúde das aves e do meio ambiente. Ro et al (2017) apontam que o enleiramento interno da cama de frango por aproximadamente 12 dias como tratamento para sua reutilização em respectivos alojamentos apresenta aumento significativo da emissão de NH3 e N2O no meio ambiente. Mesmo indicado pelos serviços de inspeção sanitária como protocolo para controle de surtos e doenças como a gripe aviária, esse manejo deve ser avaliado pelos produtores como prática recorrente na criação de frangos.…”

Enhanced Dispersion and Removal of Ammonia Emitted from a Poultry House with a Vegetative Environmental Buffer

“…The three-dimensional (3-D) sonic anemometer provided the wind information needed for calculations of friction velocity (u*), Obukhov stability length (L), surface roughness length (z o ), and wind direction. To avoid error-prone periods, the following post data-filtering criteria were used [16]:…”