The process of erosion, characterised by the loss of soil, water and nutrients, is the main cause of soil degradation and has numerous consequences for the agricultural sector and the environment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the loss of soil, water and nutrients, and the chemical attributes of the soil, in an area with and without fertilisation with chicken litter under simulated rainfall in different rainfall patterns, in addition to the financial impact resulting from the loss of nutrients. Using the InfiAsper simulator, rainfall with Advanced (AV), Intermediate (IN), Delayed (DL) and Constant (CT) patterns were simulated in an area of a Dystric Acrisol, following a randomised block design, in a 2 × 4 factorial scheme totalling eight treatments, with four replications. The treatments comprised the areas with (WCL) and without (NCL) the surface application of chicken litter and subjected to the four rainfall patterns, giving a total of 32 experimental units. Rainfall was applied for 40 min at an average intensity of 45 mm h−1. The mean values of the runoff depths did not vary as a function of fertilisation, however there were differences in soil loss between the NCL and WCL treatments with the DL (10.55 and 34.98 g m−2) and CT (7.22 and 15.88 g m−2) patterns. The greatest nutrient loss in the WCL treatments, irrespective of the rainfall pattern, is related to the presence of chicken litter. In the WCL treatments, the IN pattern afforded the greatest loss of N (26.76 g kg−1) and P (14.58 g kg−1), while the AD pattern gave the greatest value for K (8.42 g kg−1). In the WCL plots, the mean value for total organic carbon loss was 202.01 g kg−1. In WCL areas, the greatest financial losses were seen for P2O5, reaching US$ 12.86 ha−1 in Baixada Fluminense, for sowing/transplanting in April, and 3.7 times greater in the Serrana region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in January. In NCL areas, N presented greater financial loss. It can be concluded that in an area with the surface application of chicken litter, the rainfall pattern interferes with the loss of N, P and K, and that financial losses from the loss of nutrients caused by water erosion can be even more marked when considering areas of greater slope.