Poultry house litter management is an important factor in poultry farming that can lead to improvements in performance and animal welfare.

Poultry farming worldwide has been developing in the last decades towards technification and modernization to increase efficiency and productivity.

Every year, the industry offers improvements related to genetics, nutrition, disease prevention, vaccine development, and new treatments. In addition, poultry house management has also innovative ideas that, when implemented, offer poultry farming better results.

On the one hand, properly managed litter allows increasing the number of animals housed in the facilities (stocking density), which translates into higher production. On the other hand, good litter management has positive effects on poultry welfare, disease prevention, and production performance.

What is poultry litter?

Poultry shed litter is a waste product of poultry production. Poultry production today demands optimal management measures for all production stages. Therefore, all poultry farms should implement good litter management practices.

Poultry produces excreta (feces) throughout the production cycle, which have a high-water content that must be absorbed, and it is necessary to adapt the floor to support this waste load.

The materials used in poultry house litter management are characterized by three main aspects: First, these materials can absorb a large amount of water. Second, the materials have a low moisture content. Finally, they are inexpensive (compared to other materials) and readily available as they are agricultural by-products. Some of the most used materials are:

• Rice husks
• Wood chips
• Sunflower or peanut shells

When batches are changed, the surface layer of litter is removed, as it is the most humid, and must be replaced by a completely dry layer. Although the number of uses may vary, generally the shed litter is used for three to six production cycles until it is completely changed.

Poultry house litter management

An ongoing objective is to keep the litter as dry as possible. To achieve this, proper ventilation in the poultry house and manual removal of compacted parts due to moisture is recommended. Feeding and drinking areas require special care. In the process of feeding and hydration, birds can waste quantities of feed and water on the floor that compact the litter.

When the litter completely is removed, complete hygiene and disinfection procedures must be carried out to receive the next group. For this, all litter is removed from the shed and used for composting carcasses or crops. Then, all surfaces of the poultry house are washed. Finally, disinfectant substances or flaming are used to guarantee the sanitation of the production.

One of the uses that have been assigned to poultry house litter is in the agricultural sector. This poultry waste has a high nutrient content; it is considered an organic fertilizer. In addition, these waste materials end up being naturally filtered, which is environmentally sustainable.

Litter management: What impact does it have?

Litter management in the sheds must be done periodically and correctly to guarantee the best productive and sanitary standards. The litter is part of the environment where the poultry or broilers live all the time, so it must remain in the best conditions. Good or bad litter management has a direct impact on poultry production.

The change of all litter and complete disinfection prevents the circulation of viral diseases such as Gumboro Disease, Reovirus, Adenovirus, and Avian Infectious Anemia. In addition, it interferes with the biological cycle of some intestinal parasites such as helminths and coccidiosis. These diseases, in broilers, generate products of low economic value. Meanwhile, in laying poultry, egg production can decrease due to stress or the pathological effect of these diseases.

On the other hand, it is recognized that good management of the litter in the poultry house favors the welfare of the poultry. Currently, it is recommended that the litter should be more than 6 cm thick from the floor. This increase in litter height generates comfort for the poultry house birds.

Finally, in the litter with high humidity conditions, the ammonia present, generated by the excreta, increases. This compound produced by environmental bacteria in the organic matter generates chemical lesions on the skin of the legs. In addition, the vapors generated have an irritating effect on the ocular, digestive, and respiratory mucous membranes, which predisposes to opportunistic infections.

Prevention strategies for plantar footpad dermatitis

Plantar pododermatitis is an inflammation of the skin of poultry feet caused by poor poultry house litter conditions. High humidity levels on the litter or high ammonia concentrations can cause this inflammation. This pathology should be constantly monitored because of its negative impact on animal welfare and on the products obtained at the commercial level. There are evaluation scales that the veterinarian should perform frequently to diagnose the degree of lesions in the plantar pad. However, there are alternatives to prevent this problem.

1. Use of long-term preservatives: These cimenol ring preservatives promote the balance of the intestinal microbiota as they have an effect against bacteria and pathogenic fungi. In addition, their effect is at the intestinal level and does not alter the stool.
2. Use of intestinal optimizer pronutrients: these are products of natural origin that contribute to the control of coccidiosis. This disease is a factor that affects the condition of the poultry house litter. These pronutrients do not generate resistance and have no withdrawal time.
3. Mycotoxin binders: these are additives that bind to mycotoxins and prevent their toxic effect at a systemic level in poultry. The Siliglicydol molecule prevents intestinal absorption of these mycotoxins. In this way, it contributes to maintaining the health of the poultry and the litter in the best conditions.

Ammonia prevention strategies

Ammonia is a compound produced by the decomposition of organic matter from urine and feces. It is generated as a gas that is characterized by high solubility and rapid evaporation. For this reason, conditions such as humidity and temperature favor its dispersion, which ultimately affects air quality.

This irritant gas generates lesions in the respiratory tract at the level of the tracheal mucosa. In this tissue, it can cause lesions such as paralysis, necrosis, or total loss of the cilia of the epithelial cells. These lesions depend on the concentration of ammonia in the poultry sheds and the time during which the poultry are exposed.

It is recommended to measure ammonia levels constantly at different times of the day. For this purpose, ammonia meters are used at the height of the poultry from the floor. Ammonia values in the poultry houses should not exceed 20ppm.

There are alternatives of natural origin for the control of ammonia levels in poultry farming, such as Alquernat Yucca, a nutritional supplement of natural origin that allows reducing the concentration of ammonia in farms. It is a product based on Yucca extract and cimenol ring. The active ingredients of this product capture ammonia and prevent its dissemination into the air. It also reduces the microorganisms that produce ammonia in the environment.

Field trials have shown that Alquernat Yucca reduces the concentration of ammonia by up to 70% since its effect starts at the digestive level and lasts in the feces.

You may also be interested in: Footpad dermatitis in poultry

Recommendations for poultry house litter management

1. Constant removal or turning over in humid and compacted areas of the poultry house.
2. Obtain the material used for litter from authorized and accredited companies that guarantee a good sanitary state of the material.
3. Carry out a complete washing and disinfection when the poultry litter has finished its useful life.
4. Add a new, dry layer of material on the surface of the poultry house litter when a lot of animals change.
5. Use poultry house ventilation to reduce litter humidity.
6. Monitor the occurrence of foot lesions in the poultry as this has economic and animal welfare implications.
7. The litter should have these characteristics: soft, dry, dust-free, absorbent, spongy, free of pathogens.

CONCLUSIONS

Poultry house litter management is a process of great impact in poultry farming. Currently, several materials are used for poultry house litter, characterized by their moisture and odor absorption power. This process is of great importance since poultry excretion accumulates on the floor during the production cycle. The litter must withstand these high humidity loads, and the poultry producer must try to keep it as dry as possible. This ensures that the poultry has a comfortable and dry floor. In addition, when the litter completes its useful life, it has other uses and opportunities for environmentally friendly management.

The correct management of poultry house litter is closely related to the prevention of infectious diseases such as viruses, parasites, and bacteria. In addition, it prevents chemical and inhalation injuries caused by the accumulation of ammonia in the environment. Plantar pododermatitis is an important example of pathology produced by these adverse conditions, in which there are multiple prevention strategies.

There are strategies to maintain the poultry house litter in the best possible condition during the production cycle. These strategies are related to management, ventilation, sanitation, and constant observation of its condition.