Immobilization of Ammonia Generated in Poultry Manure; Reduction of Environment Impact

The increased intensity of animal meat production and the large volume of adjacent livestock manure need new management technologies to fulfill the environmental requirements and convert manure for landfield application. The goals of new technologies are to standardize the nutrient stabilization, to reduce pathogens and odors. One of the main sources of manure comes from the chicken industry. In general the density of birds in the house is 15 per square meter. The volume of deep litter used at the beginning in addition with the manure including moisture produced during 7 week growing period (light broiler) reaches 30-35 kg/squaremeter. The nitrogen content is high in the litter which fact requires two considerations. First point is to reduce the ammonia in house during growing process. Ammonia volatilization under aerobic and anaerobic manure decomposition occurs. The layer of litter at the end of period may riche 8 to 10 cm. It is estimated that both mechanisms participate in the decomposition processes that generate ammonia. One portion of ammonia enters in the air which then is removed from poultry house by ventilation. It means that this portion of nitrogen is air pollutant and is lost as potential fertilizer row material. At the same time ammonia content of air causes respiratory problems for birds. Production of ammonia in the litter increases the pH, thus causing leg injuries. Second point is that due to high nitrogen content the poultry manure requires specific treatment before is used as fertilizer to avoid the nitrate pollution.