Effect of litter treatment with probiotic bacteria on ammonia reduction in commercial broiler farm

Abstract

The impact of aerial emissions from animal farms has yet to be fully solved and is a source of much controversy and debate. In particular, a major issue with poultry litter is the loss of nitrogen as ammonia (NH3) due to microbial mineralization of urea and uric acid, which represent up to 80 % of the total nitrogen in litter. Both the concentration and exposure time of birds to ammonia may have negative influence on the health both of birds and workers, such as tracheal irritation, eye damage, decreased feed efficiency and mortality. Thus, reduction in ammonia emissions is important. In the last years, physical, chemical and biological methods were often used, in particular, biological control has been studied by many researchers. Alongside the reduction of the nitrogen content in food, proper management of litter is also essential with regard to the choice of materials, its care during the growth of animals, the use of additives. Among the latter, particularly promising appears to be the use of microbial additives to litter, feed or drinking water. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of probiotic bacteria (PB)in the reduction of ammonia emissions from a commercial farm in Veneto (northern Italy).Preliminary results obtained from the use of PB in the litter have shown a reduction of ammonia emissions of at least 35 % compared to a comparison thesis, without treatment.