Evaluation of a Novel Poultry Litter Amendment on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

Gaseous emissions from poultry litter causes production problems for producers as well as the environment, by contributing to climate change and reducing air quality. Novel methods of reducing ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in poultry facilities are needed. As such, our research evaluated GHG emissions over a 42 d period. Three separate flocks of 1000 broilers were used for this study. The first flock was used only to produce litter needed for the experiment. The second and third flocks were allocated to 20 pens in a randomized block design with four replicated of five treatments. The management practices studied included an unamended control; a conventional practice of incorporating aluminum sulfate (referred to as alum) at 98 kg/100 m2); a novel litter amendment made from alum mud, bauxite, and sulfuric acid (alum mud litter amendment, AMLA) applied at different rates (49 and 98 kg/100 m2) and methods (surface applied or incorporated). Nitrous oxide emissions were low for all treatments in flocks 2 and 3 (0.40 and 0.37 mg m2 hr−1, respectively). The formation of caked litter (due to excessive moisture) during day 35 and 42 caused high variability in CH4 and CO2 emissions. Alum mud litter amendment and alum did not significantly affect GHGs emissions from litter, regardless of the amendment rate or application method. In fact, litter amendments such as alum and AMLA typically lower GHG emissions from poultry facilities by reducing ventilation requirements to maintain air quality in cooler months due to lower NH3 levels, resulting in less propane use and concomitant reductions in CO2 emissions.

Poultry litter physiochemical characterization based on production conditions for circular systems

“…The litter was obtained after 3 flocks of birds were reared, during which the same bedding material was reused without addition of new material. The broiler's feed during the rearing period of 42 days contained corn (64.2%), soybean meal (27.7%), 50% meat, and bone meal (2.5%), poultry oil (2.65%), sodium chloride (0.31%), sodium bicarbonate (0.05%), limestone (0.74%), dicalcium phosphate (1%), vitamins, amino acids, trace metals, xylanase, and phytase (Anderson et al 2021). Thus, the litter was a mixture of manure, bedding material, spilled feed, and other wastes from the birds.…”

“…Greater moisture in PL1 compared to PL2 could result from differences in poultry litter management at the two production facilities. In Arkansas, caked litter was not removed but the litter was tilled between each flock (Anderson et al 2021), whereas in North Carolina caked litter was removed after each flock.…”

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Ammonia Concen-Tration in a Commercial Broiler Building

“…Ventilation of broiler buildings is very important as the decomposition of litter material in the floor generates manure and produces several harmful gases for humans and animals. Along with carbon dioxide (CO2), the production of broiler also generates methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are considered the main greenhouse gases, and pointed as one of the main causes of climate change, due to their potential contribution for global warming [2]. In face of the environmental problems caused by the gases emission in broiler production, international regulations have been published in order to reduce ammonia (NH3) emissions, particularly the directive (European Union) 2016/2284 of 14 December, that aims a reduction in 20% of NH3 emissions Disclaimer/Publisher's Note: The statements, opinions, and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s).…”

“…The volatilization of NH3 is influenced by several factors such as temperature and relative humidity, ventilation rate and air velocity, excretion rate and litter removal schedule [6,8]. Some studies have been published concerning strategies to control and reduce NH3 volatilization in broiler housing, either by adding additives to litter material or by dietary manipulation [2,5,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. Strategies like the utilization of additives and the adoption of diets with lower levels of crude protein are some examples of measures that can contribute to reduce NH3 losses in broiler production facilities [6].…”

Effects of broiler litter age and application rate on nutrient mineralization under laboratory condition

“…In the United States, BL is routinely cleaned out from poultry houses after a few cycles of chicken raising, which depends on the moisture buildup, disease incidence, barn size, demand of litter, and so on (Anderson et al., 2021; Ritz et al., 2009). Cleanout frequency of litter can impact nutrient concentrations as well as nutrient mineralization.…”