Poultry Litter Management in the Illinois River Watershed of ...

Litter is formed into two rows the length of thepoultry house, with each row being at least 3 to 4 feethigh for best results. With proper conditions, wind ­rowing litter can result in biological activity and heatproduction that partially composts the litter. If theheat production reaches 130ºF in the piles, it canreduce pathogen populations that are a threat to birdhealth. For optimum effectiveness, the rows areturned after 72 hours and allowed to heat a secondtime. Following the second cycle, windrowed litter isredistributed in the house for the next flock of birds.Ideally, temperatures should reach 130ºF both times.Again, it is important to ventilate the house wellafter windrowing to avoid ammonia­induced healthproblems for the next flock of birds. Wind rowingnecessitates a downtime between flocks of at least10 days, with additional days needed to prepare thehouse for the next flock.from the house. Thus, determining the nutrientcontent of litter is an important consideration whenusing litter as a fertilizer. Determining nutrient contentrequires collecting a litter sample either in­housebefore clean­out or from stacked litter after clean­out(Wilson et al., 2006, and Zhang et al., 2011) andsubmitting the sample to the University of ArkansasDiagnostic Testing Laboratory or the OklahomaState University Soil, Water and Forage AnalyticalLaboratory in Oklahoma through your local countyExtension office.Poultry litter that is used in the Arkansas IRW asa fertilizer for pastures, haylands and crop fieldsmust be analyzed for nutrient content every 5 years,as required by state law. In Oklahoma, state lawrequires that litter be analyzed annually. Litter thatis exported off the farm is analyzed each time it ishauled. The nutrient content of litter varies with feedmanagement, which is controlled by the integratorsalong with in­house feeder pan, brood feeding andlitter management, as mentioned above and bySharpley et al. (2009) and Zhang et al. (2011). As feedand litter management can vary from year to year,values used to estimate total nutrient production,current fertilizer value and pricing for markets arebased on the previous year’s litter analyses averagesby bird type. Table 1 lists the averages for 2011 basedon litter analyzed by the University of Arkansas SoilTesting Laboratory and provided by Nathan Slaton,director of the University of Arkansas Division ofAgriculture’s Soil Testing Program.TABLE 1. Mean nutrient content of poultry litter analyzedby the University of Arkansas Diagnostic Testing Laboratoryin 2011 (Slaton, personal communication 2012).Example of windrowed poultry litterBroiler producers utilize one or a combination ofthe practices above for in­house litter managementbetween flocks and typically remove all of the litterfrom the house once per year. Turkey producerstypically remove the cake or remove all of the litterbetween flocks, as their grow­out periods are muchlonger than for broiler chickens. Chicken hen andpullet producers generally remove all of the litterbetween flocks.When birds are present, litter moisture andammonia are managed using heaters and ventilationfans to maintain ideal in­house conditions for birdhealth. Outdoor weather conditions influence themoisture and temperature of the incoming ventilationair and greatly impact the intensity of this management,determining the need for either heating orcooling.Nutrient Content and Fertilizer ValuePoultry litter is not typically managed to increaseits fertilizer value; however, in­house managementdoes affect the nutrient content of litter and its valueas a fertilizer for pastures and crops, when removedBird Type N P 2 O 5 K 2 O%Moisturelb/ton on an as is basisBroiler 64 55 58 25.8Hen 47 60 43 27.0Pullet 49 66 42 26.1Turkey 65 63 49 26.4Similar trends and nutrient contents of poultrylitter were obtained for prior years (Sharpley et al.,2009, and Zhang et al., 2011). Based on averagenutrient content, the value of poultry litter, ascompared to commercial fertilizer prices, can beestimated. Table 2 lists the values as of January 15,2012.TABLE 2. Average value of poultry litter based on itsnutrient content and commercial fertilizer prices from fourfertilizer dealers in Eastern Oklahoma as of January 15,2012.Litter Type N 1 P 2 O 5 K 2 O Total$/ton on an as is basisBroiler $25 $26 $31 $82Hen $19 $29 $23 $71Pullet $19 $32 $22 $73Turkey $26 $30 $26 $821 N value is based on 70% availability.