Poultry House Dust, Odours and Feathers—A Review

Abstract

SummaryIntensive poultry production operations unless managed properly may create pollution problems from dust, odour and feathers. Inside houses with high density certain conditions may arise from the environment that will adversely affect the health of the poultry flock. The amount of airborne dust is much greater in the poultry litter house than in a cage house.If the manure contains enough moisture, the particles tend to settle and not be circulated by fan ventilation. On the other hand, if the moisture content is too high, flies may propagate in the manure. Integrated fly control for flies merits serious consideration by poultrymen.The odours of poultry manure have been separated using chromatographic techniques. The fatty acid content is correlated with the odour of liquid poultry manure. Because of around-the-clock production of fresh manure by chickens, the task of controlling odours by masking agents is made costly.With improper ventilation ammonia in poultry houses may become a problem. The ammonia is produced by bacterial action on the manure. Concentrations of 60 to 70 p.p.m. may cause kerato-conjunctivitis and reduced growth rates. Even less, from 20 to 50 p.p.m. may predispose the birds to certain respiratory diseases.The sheath cells of feathers are produced in large quantities in poultry house environment. Not only do these contribute to the particulate matter but may be responsible for the air transmission of Marek's and Newcastle diseases. Ventilation by means of filtered air under positive pressure may be a practical way of maintaining specific-pathogen-free poultry. When hens lose feathers in large quantities as in force moulting, manure handling problem may be increased. The large feathers from the wings and tail may clog drain pipes and float on the surface of liquid manure ponds. The lighter feathers may cause some trouble when the manure is dried with forced heated air.