Poultry manure

Chemical composition of poultry manure

The content of nutrients in manure depends on the composition and quality of feeds, to a lesser extent — on housing methods.

Poultry manure contains trace elements: in 100 g of dry matter there is 15-38 mg manganese, 12-39 mg zinc, 1-1.2 mg cobalt, 1-2.5 mg copper, 300-400 mg iron. Most nutrients in poultry manure are in water-soluble form.

Production of poultry manure

In its fertilizing qualities, chicken manure surpasses manure, and in speed of action it is not inferior to mineral fertilizers. Goose and duck manure contains more moisture and in nutrient content approaches manure. Per year from 1000 hens, 6-8 t of manure are collected, from ducks — 7-9 t, from geese — 10-12 t.

Drying loss of chicken manure under cage housing after 8 h is 10-12%, after 12 h — 13-16%, after a day — 27-32%. Under floor housing, litter manure is obtained, the drying loss of which occurs faster — in 12 h it reaches 50%, under ducks and geese — 35%.

Litter chicken manure

Litter chicken manure has sufficient flowability and low moisture. It is used as litter manure in doses calculated by nitrogen. At moisture 56% it contains on average 1.6% N, 1.5% P₂O₅ and 0.9% K₂O. As litter, peat, chopped straw, and wood sawdust of deciduous trees are used, which are laid in a layer of 30-40 cm; as it gets contaminated, the upper layer is mixed with the lower. Litter manure is removed when changing the flock 2-3 times a year. Another variant of using litter: peat is laid in a layer of 5-10 cm; as it gets contaminated, it is added at the rate of 15-20 g per head; when the height of the litter manure reaches 0.5-1.0 m, it is removed.

Peat moisture should be not more than 50%, other types of litter — 30%. Litter promotes conservation of nutrients of manure and reduces their losses. The use of deep litter in poultry houses is the most reliable technique for preserving nitrogen, improving the physical properties of manure, reducing labor costs and increasing productivity. The best material for deep litter is dry chopped sphagnum peat with the addition of chopped straw. For litter, dry peat crumb of lowland peat, straw, chaff, and wood sawdust can also be used.

Moisture of litter poultry manure is from 30 to 50%. The best quality is possessed by manure fertilizer based on peat and straw.

Losses of nitrogen from poultry manure can be reduced by adding superphosphate in an amount of 6-10% of the weight of raw manure. Superphosphate is added after its removal from the poultry house. The concentrated fertilizer obtained in this way is applied under row crops and vegetable crops at 4-5 t/ha, under cereals — 2-2.5 t/ha.

Litterless chicken manure

Litterless chicken manure is a sticky, smearing mass with a foul odor and a higher nutrient content than litter manure. It also contains seeds of weeds, eggs and larvae of helminths, flies, and microorganisms, many of which are pathogens.

All nutrients in poultry manure are contained in forms assimilable by plants. Nitrogen of uric and hippuric acids undergoes ammonification, which is accompanied by its losses during improper storage; over 6 months they can reach 50% of the total content. To reduce nitrogen losses during accumulation and storage of litterless manure, 20-40% by mass of peat crumb is added to it, or it is composted with peat; in the absence of peat — up to 30% soil.

At poultry factories, for disinfection, deodorization, preservation of nutrients, and improvement of physical-mechanical properties of litterless manure, rapid thermal drying at a temperature of 600-800 °C is used. From 1 t of raw manure, 300-350 kg of granulated or powdered concentrated organic fertilizer with moisture 15-20% is obtained; nitrogen losses do not exceed 5%, and the concentration of nutrients increases 3 times: 4-6% N, 3-4% P₂O₅ and 1.5-2.0% K₂O, CaO — 4.5, MgO — 1.6%.

Thermally dried manure is a disinfected and biologically low-active material suitable for long-term storage. Drying manure is associated with large energy costs and should be used only at poultry factories located near cities or recreation zones where it is impossible to utilize manure by other methods.

Dry poultry manure

Dry poultry manure — a flowable organic fertilizer, more transportable, can be stored in a dry place; over 6 months of storage in bags or an open stack, it loses 4-11% of organic matter and 3-8% of nitrogen.

Composting poultry manure

In fresh chicken manure there are no volatile forms of nitrogen, however, during storage in heaps it heats up strongly, and due to the conversion of uric acid into ammonia compounds, nitrogen is lost. Losses during such storage over 1.5-2 months can reach 30-60% of the total content. Losses are eliminated by composting fresh poultry manure with peat, humus, straw, sawdust, sod, or soil.

Composting is a method of manure utilization; it increases the fertilizer yield and is ecologically safer. Peat-manure composts are the most common. To obtain high-quality compost, balanced in nutrients, reduce nitrogen losses, and increase biological activity, it is recommended to add per 1 t of compost mass 10-20 kg of powdered superphosphate, 20-30 kg of phosphate rock, or 5-10% by mass of compost of phosphogypsum. The addition of 1.5-2% potassium chloride protects the piles from freezing in winter.

For fast and optimal processes in composts, the mixture should have a moisture content of 65-70%, a C:N ratio from 20:1 to 30:1, and an acidity pH of 6-8. Turning of the stacks is carried out when the temperature decreases to 30-3 °C. Compost is considered mature when the temperature in the stack after turning does not rise. The composting process lasts 1-2 months. Since poultry manure is predominantly a nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer, its use necessitates additional application of potassium fertilizers.

Application

Poultry manure is characterized by increased stickiness, which creates difficulties with its application to the soil by existing machinery. Suspensions contained in manure runoff hinder its application by sprinkler systems. The transport radius of liquid manure for economic reasons is limited to 5 km, therefore, as a fertilizer, it is expedient to use litter manure, manure composts, and in some cases — dry manure.

Manure fertilizers are primarily applied under row crops, then under winter crops and grasses as the main fertilizer and in top dressing. In areas of sufficient moisture, poultry manure and its composts are incorporated with disk implements and cultivators; on sandy and sandy loam soils, plowing in composts is more effective. Incorporation of organic fertilizers, including manure composts, is carried out with tiered plows of the PYa-3-35 type with a single application of fertilizers for several years of crop rotation.

Poultry manure is applied before sowing of crops and during vegetation in top dressing. For pre-sowing application, it is used depending on the type, productivity of crops, and cultivation of the soil in the following doses: litterless manure — 5-10 t/ha, litter manure — 10-20 t/ha, thermally dried — 2-4 t/ha. In top dressing by the broadcast method, doses of litterless manure are 0.8-1 t/ha; for local application into furrows and holes — 400-500 kg/ha; doses of litter manure are increased by 20-30%, dry — reduced by 3 times.

Manure composts are comparable in effectiveness to litter manure, and in some cases surpass it.

By action and aftereffect on crop yield, all types of poultry manure, when applied in doses equivalent to mineral fertilizers, are not inferior in effectiveness. Under crops sensitive to increased concentration of the soil solution and positively responding to improved air nutrition with carbon dioxide, they surpass mineral fertilizers.

List of sources

1. Yagodin B. A., Zhukov Yu. P., Kobzarenko V. I. (2002). Agrochemistry. Ed. B. A. Yagodin. Moscow: Kolos.
2. Mineev V. G., Sychev V. G., Gamzikov G. P. et al. (2017). Agrochemistry. Textbook. Ed. Mineev V. G. Moscow: Publishing House of VNIIA named after D. N. Pryanishnikov.