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In-House Composting of Layer Manure in a High-Rise, Tunnel-Ventilated Commercial Layer House During an Egg Production Cycle

A. B. Webster^*,1, S. A. Thompson, N. C. Hinkle and W. C. Merka^*

^* Departments of Poultry Science, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602

¹ Corresponding author: bwebster{at}uga.edu

In-house composting has the potential to improve the viability of the high-rise house for commercial egg production by producing a value-added product from the manure without requiring a separate composting facility. The feasibility of in-house composting depends in part on having the ability to handle the manure mass that accumulates over an extended period. This field study showed that in-house composting is possible for the length of an egg production cycle. Beginning with windrows of a carbon source, fresh pine sawdust or shredded yard waste, upon which manure fell from the cage rows above, compost volume grew rapidly in the first few weeks, but slowed after composting activity peaked, as indicated by compost temperatures. In cold weather, when ventilation rates were low, compost remixing temporarily produced high ammonia levels in the house, but ammonia levels at other times were comparable to or lower than those in an undisturbed house. The final compost was friable and nutrient-rich, although the handling quality of the yard waste compost was reduced by persistence of elongated woody pieces of the original carbon source. The ability to access the manure storage area of a high-rise house over a cycle of production gives potential to deliver manure amendments to improve nitrogen retention in the compost, which would have the effect of improving its fertilizer value and reducing ammonia emission from the house.

Key Words: commercial layers • in-house composting • manure