..............................
Poultry Litter
In Summary
· Composting may reduce the risk of
nutrients from poultry litter entering water courses, thus, cutting the weight
and volume of the original material. Composted poultry litter is a more
valuable fertiliser than fresh litter.
· Fertilising all types of pastures:
It can be applied to mixed pastures comprising grasses and legumes. Do not
graze pastures for at least three weeks after spreading poultry litter to allow
regrowth period on a well-grazed paddock.
Poultry litter is a mixture of droppings, feathers, bedding
material, feeds and water in the chicken coop after cleaning.
The nutrient concentration of the litter depends on the type and
amount of bedding material, poultry kept, number of birds, the nutrients
included in the poultry diet and the age of the chickens.
It is advisable to collect this litter once after every two
weeks.
Strategies should be used to ensure that it does not get into
water courses.
Poultry litter is profitable for use either as manure or animal
feed since it minimises cost and maximises total nutrient input.
While it might appear suitable for direct garden use, domestic
poultry litter is generally unsuitable for this purpose.
This is because if used fresh, it could burn plant roots,
attract vermin and rodents.
STORAGE
Store well the litter to use
it as fertiliser and minimise health and pollution risks.
Pile it in an open small stack not more than 1.8m high to reduce
loss of nitrogen and organic matter due to overheating.
The site should be well-drained and away from water courses and
fenced to keep off livestock.
Compact the base of the stack to reduce chances of coming into
contact with surface water. Store the litter for shorter periods, in amounts
that meet the needs of the current growing season.
This will help maintain the material’s nutrient value and reduce
environmental risk and liability.
COMPOSING
Composting may reduce the risk of nutrients from poultry litter
entering water courses, thus, cutting the weight and volume of the original
material.
Composted poultry litter is a more valuable fertiliser than
fresh litter.
Heap the litter in rows of about 1.2m high and 2.4m wide to
achieve temperatures of 60°C to 70°C or simply add a 5cm layer to every 15cm
of the other material.
Composting normally increases cost and time required for
processing, but reduces the total amount of nitrogen and organic matter
available during land application.
The composted material can be used in nurseries, gardens and
flower farms.
USES OF POULTRY MANURE
Fertilising all types of pastures: It can be applied to mixed
pastures comprising grasses and legumes.
Do not graze pastures for at least three weeks after spreading
poultry litter to allow regrowth period on a well-grazed paddock.
Application can be done by broadcasting, followed by cultivation
into the soil where possible to reduce smell and loss of nitrogen into the air.
Do not apply litter on steep land.
Fertilising fruit crops and vegetables: This can be applied at
the rate of 150g per square metre for most crops.
Additional potassium fertiliser may be needed. Note that fresh
poultry manure is known to harbour pathogens, therefore, it is crucial to
mitigate the possibility of vegetable contamination.
This is achieved through the use of composted manure.
Incorporate the manure in the soil, and using polyethylene, mulch to cover the
soil.
Biogas production: A digester tank of 2,000kg
can handle approximately 17 tonnes of chicken litter per day, which would yield
3,400g biogas.
You need to dilute with water to remove ammonia, which inhibits
anaerobic digestion. It takes about 30 days for complete digestion of chicken
litter.
Animal feed production: Poultry litter can be fed
to cattle by incorporating into their rations. Litter fed at 40 per cent can
cover almost completely the protein and mineral requirements of beef cattle.
A significant level of energy and the total required minerals
like calcium and phosphorus can be fully met when broiler litter is fed to beef
cattle at 20 per cent inclusion level.
Give preference to feeds low in ash such as sugar, cassava and
other tubers, cereal grain, and fruit wastes.
Fruit wastes are rich in digestible energy and are excellent
balancing ingredients for poultry waste.
Supplement with additional energy in the form of molasses and
starchy feeds to increase palatability, feed intake and maximum utilisation of
the non-protein nitrogen fraction of poultry waste.
You can also ensile litter with forages and high moisture grains
like maize.
Such silage has higher palatability with better performance than
silage containing soybean as protein source.
When
handling poultry manure, observe the following precautions.
Remove any dead birds and
parts of birds like feathers and bones to minimise harm especially when used in
livestock feeds.
Ensure that the bedding material does not contain chemicals,
always wear gloves when handling the litter and avoid using poultry litter from
sick birds.
Ms Andisi is based at
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.
No comments:
Post a Comment