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Poultry litter
Poultry litter is the mix of bedding material, manure and feathers that result from intensive poultry production. This includes litter from meat chickens (broilers), egg-laying chickens (layers) kept under barn conditions, turkeys, ducks and quails. Poultry bedding material consists of wood shavings, pine straw, peanut hulls, and other absorbent dry low-cost materials and is another possible source of pathogenic contamination for poultry. It is generally recommended that farmers keep litter as dry as possible, replace the top layer of the litter with a new one, and apply acid-based litter amendments. Keeping litter dry is a critical part of overall management on every poultry farm. Litter conditions influence bird performance, which in turn affects profits of growers and integrators. Dry litter helps control ammonia levels, provides a healthy flock environment, and reduces condemnations due to hock and footpad burns and breast blisters.
I. INTRODUCTION Poultry house moisture contributes to many of the issues that poultry farms experience. As moisture builds in the litter/bedding, microbial populations thrive, more ammonia is generated, and the incidence and severity of footpad dermatitis increases. Much of the moisture in the house comes from the birds themselves, so in order to control moisture, one must understand the current moisture loads in the house. For example, broilers grow faster and convert feed more...
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Introduction With genetic improvement changes, today poultry species are more sensitive to nutritional and management changes which can easily induce osmoregulatory perturbation that can cause flushing (Many, 2023). A typical layer farm of 100,000 hens produces 1,500 to 2,000 tons of manure every year (Chai, 2012). And 1000 broilers chickens produce up to 1370 lbs of manure per in a growing cycle (Parker et al., 1959). Manure is acquired by the agricultural industry for land...
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January 25, 2027
United States - Georgia - Atlanta
Background North Carolina’s poultry farmers produced 36 million turkeys and 800 million broiler chickens in 2012 (NASS, 2013). Most turkeys and broilers are raised on bedding such as wood shavings, peanut hulls, or sawdust. Fecal material, spilled feed and water, and feathers accumulate on the bedding, creating a material known as cake. The material beneath the cake, which is mostly bedding with some fecal and feed constituents, is known as litter. In North Carolina, most...
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Héctor Leyva-Jiménez (United Animal Health) shares his research on the impact of probiotics on fly populations in poultry farms, in this Engormix interview at IPPE 2026 in Atlanta. ...
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In the comprehensive study "Litter Quality and Broiler Performance," extension poultry scientists Casey W. Ritz, Brian D. Fairchild, and Michael P. Lacy from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences provide a critical look at how the immediate environment of a broiler house dictates the biological and economic success of a flock. The research, published as Bulletin 1267 by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, emphasizes that while chick...
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What is Wet Litter? Wet litter in meat chicken production is a major concern due to its impact on animal welfare, flock health, environmental sustainability, and production efficiency. It arises when water addition (excreta, spillage) exceeds removal (evaporation), leading to litter moisture above 25 %, which compromises its cushioning and insulating properties. The causes are multifactorial, involving housing design, micro and macro environmental conditions, nutrition, health, and...
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Dr. Kapil Dev, Technical Officer at ABTL, explains how a new microbe- and enzyme-based solution helps control flies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve litter quality, and support sustainability, environmental safety, and worker health in poultry production. ...
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1. Introduction The poultry industry in the United States is one of the largest food industries worldwide, and chickens are commonly reared for meat production [1]. Annually, this industry generates over 10 million tons of litter to accommodate the growing number of birds necessary to meet consumer demands [2]. The poultry industry is faced with numerous challenges, the focal point being the issue of health. Several authors have posited diverse factors that impact the composition and...
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Litter management is a cornerstone of sustainable poultry production, directly impacting bird health, environmental safety, and community acceptance. Among the many challenges faced by poultry producers, fly infestation and persistent odour remain the most difficult to control....
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Footpad dermatitis (FPD) is considered an animal welfare issue. Wet and sticky litter are major causes of FPD (Taira et al., 2014). Our previous study showed that a well selected probiotic strain Bacillus subtilis 29784 can improve broiler performance by modulating intestinal microbiota and intestinal inflammatory status (Ghane et al., 2017; Jacquier et al., 2016). We hypothesize that the previous demonstrated benefits of B. subtilis 29784 on gut health will improve litter quality and may...
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Updated Vitamin Requirements Across Species: Microvit® Nutrition Guide
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One of the biggest complaints surrounding the poultry houses is the smell of manure. The ammonia concentration in poultry houses not only contributes to the smell but can be harmful for both the birds and the workers who frequent the barn. This article is about how ammonia gas is formed, its impact on the birds and how to control ammonia levels in poultry houses. Ammonia emission in poultry houses Ammonia emission is one of the greatest concern in poultry houses....
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Laying hens need to maintain their health status, including their gastrointestinal health until at least 72 weeks of age. Gut microbiota composition is extremely important to gastrointestinal and overall health. Furthermore, the gut-brain axis enables interactions between the enteric microbiota, the enteric nervous system and the central nervous system (Dinan & Cryan, 2017). The composition of gastrointestinal microbiota can be affected by animal behavior and vice versa (Neufeld et al.,...
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In poultry farming, worms and protozoa represent the two primary classes of internal parasites that impact bird health, welfare, and productivity. While indoor-reared poultry typically avoid infestation from worms that require intermediate hosts, free-range birds are more susceptible. Interestingly, broilers tend to...
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Lilong Chai (University of Georgia) discusses advantages and issues of cage-free poultry houses regarding pecking behavior, egg production, and dust bathing, among other aspects, in this Engormix interview. ...
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What is litter? Litter and its management are an essential part of bird management and ensuring bird welfare. This goes for broilers, turkeys, or laying hens kept on litter floors. Litter is a combination of the bedding used within a house combined with the excreta from the birds. Good quality litter provides...
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Sudipto Haldar (Research Director at Agrivet) talks about eubiosis, dysbiosis and digestibility, as well as the role of enzymes, probiotics and phytogenics, in this Engormix interview....
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Ben Parsons (University of Arkansas) speaks on the cost and environmental implications of phosphorus requirements and explains the steps forward shown in his recent research, in this Engormix interview during IPPE 2024 in Atlanta, USA....
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I. INTRODUCTION To successfully develop a challenge model to simulate actual infection as seen in production practices, a seeder challenge model was proposed and previously shown to be an effective method to infect poultry (Cox et al., 1996, 2020). However, applying it in this way to young layers is novel. This pilot study was developed with the objective of determining the success of this challenge method. A second objective was to determine the base line effectiveness of the...
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You are frying eggs for breakfast. You get distracted and the next thing you know your eggs are burning and your kitchen is filling with smoke. What do you do first? Open the window to get rid of the smoke or remove the skillet from the stove to stop the generation of the smoke? You of course, remove the skillet from the stove, then open windows because opening the windows in itself doesn't solve the problem, because your eggs are still burning and filling the kitchen with...
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Tom Tabler (University of Tennessee) explains how sprinklers work and their impact on feed conversion, weight gain, and bird performance, in this Engormix interview during IPPE 2024 in Atlanta, USA....
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