Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T05:38:21.811Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Recent advances in Australian broiler litter utilisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2007

J.R. TURNELL,
R.D. FAULKNER and
G.N. HINCH
J.R. TURNELL*
Affiliation:
The Australian Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, ArmidaleNSW, Australia
R.D. FAULKNER
Affiliation:
The Australian Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, ArmidaleNSW, Australia
G.N. HINCH
Affiliation:
Animal Science, School of Rural Science and Agriculture, University of New England, Armidale NSW, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: jturnell@une.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

The global poultry industry is undergoing many changes, one being the need for efficient disposal of its broiler litter (BL) due to a reduction in the land available for cost effective disposal. To date, Australian BL disposal has been achieved by selling the litter as a fertiliser to agricultural sectors. Research indicates BL and other poultry industry waste streams could be used as a food source for vermiculture systems, allowing the sale of vermi-cast as a biologically enhanced fertiliser and worms for protein. If this approach is economically viable then the poultry industry could reduce its environmental impact and operate more like a closed loop system. Integrated bio-systems using vermiculture, composting and waste-to-energy technologies have developed significantly overseas and have shown potential to solve many of the issues associated with poultry waste disposal.

Keywords

vermiculturecompostingdirect combustionanaerobic digestionclosed loop systemnutrient loop closureintegrated bio-systems

Information

Type
Review Article
Information
World's Poultry Science Journal , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , June 2007, pp. 223 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © World's Poultry Science Association 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

ABELHA, P., GULYURTLU, I., BOAVIDA, D., SEABRA BARROS, J., CABRITA, I., LEAHY, J.J., KELLEHER, B.P. and LEAHY, M.J. (2003) Combustion of poultry litter in a fluidised bed combustor. Fuel 82: 687–692.Google Scholar
ANONYMOUS (2000) Chicken runs provide the fuel for Fibrowatts's global ambitions. Modern Power Systems 20: 41–45.Google Scholar
ARANCON, N.Q., EDWARDS, C.A., BIERMAN, P., METZGER, J.D., LEE, S. and WELCH, C. (2003) Effects of vermicomposts on growth and marketable fruits of field-grown tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. Pedobiologia 47: 731–735.Google Scholar
ATIYEH, R.M., LEE, S., EDWARDS, C.A., ARANCON, N.Q. and METZGER, J.D. (2002) The influence of humic acids derived from earthworm-processed organic wastes on plant growth. Bioresource Technology 84: 7–14.Google Scholar
ATKINSON, C.F., JONES, D.D. and GAUTHIER, J.J. (1995) Biodegradability and microbial activities during composting of poultry litter. Poultry Science 75: 608–617.Google Scholar
BAJSA, O., NAIR, J., MATHEW, K. and HO, G.E. (2003) Vermiculture as a tool for domestic wastewater management. Water Science and Technology 48: 125–132.Google Scholar
BEDNAR, A.J., GARBARINO, J.R., FERRER, I., RUTHERFORD, D.W., WERSHAW, R.L., RANVILLE, J.F. and WILDEMAN, T.R. (2003) Photodegradation of roxarsone in poultry litter leachates. Science of the Total Environment 302: 237–245.Google Scholar
BLACKALL, P.J. (2005) Discussion Paper- Public health risks from use of waste products. Australian Poultry CRC, Armidale.Google Scholar
BLAKE, J.P. (2004) Methods and technologies for handling mortality losses. World's Poultry Science Journal 60: 489–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BRODIE, H.L., CARR, L.E. and CONDON, P. (2000) A comparison of static pile and turned windrow methods for poultry litter compost production. Compost Science and Utilization 8: 178–189.Google Scholar
BUCKERFIELD, J.C., FLAVEL, T.C., LEE, K.E. and WEBSTER, K.A. (1999) Vermicompost in solid and liquid forms as a plant-growth promoter. Pedobiologia 43: 753–759.Google Scholar
BUJOCZEK, G., OLESZKIEWICZ, J., SPARLING, R. and CENKOWSKI, S. (2000) High solid anaerobic digestion of chicken manure. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 76: 51–60.Google Scholar
CARPENTER, G.H. (2000) Nutrient management comes of age in the poultry industry. Biocycle 41: 61–63.Google Scholar
COLLINS, A.R., MURPHY, J. and BAINBRIDGE, D. (2000) Optimal loading rates and economic analyses for anaerobic digestion of poultry waste. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association 50: 1037–1044.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
COOPERBAND, L., BOLLERO, G. and COALE, F. (2002) Effect of poultry litter and composts on soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability and corn production. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 62: 185–194.Google Scholar
DAS, A.K. and DASH, M.C. (1990) Earthworm meal as a protein concentrate for broilers. Journal of Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 67: 342–344.Google Scholar
DAS, K.C., MINKARA, M.Y., MELEAR, N.D. and TOLLNER, E.W. (2002) Effect of poultry litter amendment on hatchery waste composting. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 11: 282–290.Google Scholar
DELAUNE, P.B., MOORE, P.A., DANIEL, T.C. and LEMUNYON, J.L. (2004) Effect of chemical and microbial amendments on ammonia volatilisation from composting poultry litter. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 728–734.Google Scholar
DOMINGUEZ, J., VELANDO, A. and FERREIRO, A. (2005) Are Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) and Eisenia andrei Bouche (1972) (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) different biological species? Pedobiologia 49: 81–87.Google Scholar
DYNES, R.A. (2003) Earthworms- Technology information to enable the development of earthworm production. RIRDC, Canberra.Google Scholar
EASTMAN, B.R., KANE, P.N., EDWARDS, C.A., TRYTEK, L., GUNADI, B., STERMER, A.L. and MOBLEY, J.R. (2001) The effectiveness of vermiculture in human pathogen reduction for USEPA biosolids stabilization. Compost Science and Utilisation 9: 38–49.Google Scholar
EDWARDS, C. and STEELE, J. (1997) Using earthworm systems. BioCycle 38: 63–64.Google Scholar
EDWARDS, C.A. and ARANCON, N.Q. (2004) Vermicomposts suppress plant pests and disease attacks. Biocycle 45: 51–54.Google Scholar
ELVIRA, C., DOMINGUEZ, J. and MATO, S. (1996) The growth and reproduction of Lumbricus rubellus and Dendrobaena rubida in cow manure mixed cultures with Eisenia andrei. Applied Soil Ecology 5: 97–103.Google Scholar
GANESH, P., MOHAN, M., SUBHA, R. and VIJAYALAKSHMI, G.S. (2003) Earthworm meal for fish feed formulation and its influence on growth of mrigal fingerlings. Journal of Ecobiology 15: 181–184.Google Scholar
GARBARINO, J.R., BEDNAR, A.J., RUTHERFORD, D.W., BEYER, R.S. and WERSHAW, R.L. (2003) Environmental fate of roxarsone in poultry litter. 1. Degradation of roxarsone during composting. Environmental Science and Technology 37: 1509–1514.Google Scholar
GHOSH, C. (2004) Integrated vermi-pisciculture – an alternative option for recycling of solid municipal waste in rural India. Bioresource Technology 93: 71–75.Google Scholar
GILMOUR, J.T., KOEHLER, M.A., CABRERA, M.L., SZAJDAK, L. and MOORE, P.A. (2004) Alum treatment of poultry litter: Decomposition and nitrogen dynamics. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 402–405.Google Scholar
GINTING, D., KESSAVALOU, A., EGHBALL, B. and DORAN, J.W. (2003) Greenhouse gas emissions and soil indicators four years after manure and compost applications. Journal of Environmental Quality 32: 23–32.Google Scholar
GRAETZ, D.A., NAIR, V.D., PORTIER, K.M. and VOSS, R.L. (1999) Phosphorus accumulation in manureimpacted Spodosols of Florida. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 75: 31–40.Google Scholar
GUPTA, G., BOROWIEC, J. and OKOH, J. (1997) Toxicity identification of poultry litter aqueous leachate. Poultry Science 76: 1364–1367.Google Scholar
GUPTA, G. and CHARLES, S. (1999) Trace elements in soils fertilized with poultry litter. Poultry Science 78: 1695–1698.Google Scholar
HAN, F.X., KINGERY, W.L., SELIM, H.M. and GERARD, P.D. (1999) Accumulation of heavy metals in long-term poultry waste-amended soils. Soil Science 165: 260–268.Google Scholar
HAO, X., CHANG, C. and LARNEY, F.J. (2004) Carbon, nitrogen balances and greenhouse gas emission during cattle feedlot manure composting. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 37–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HARMEL, R.D., TORBERT, H.A., HAGGARD, B.E., HANEY, R. and DOZIER, M. (2004) Water quality impacts of converting to a poultry litter fertilization strategy. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 2229–2242.Google Scholar
HENIHAN, A.M., KELLEHER, B.P., LEAHY, M.J., CUMMINS, E. and LEAHY, J.J. (2002) Monitoring and dispersion modelling of emissions from the fluidised bed combustion of poultry litter. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 85: 239–255.Google Scholar
HENIHAN, A.M., LEAHY, M.J., LEAHY, J.J., CUMMINS, E. and KELLEHER, B.P. (2003) Modelling of fluidised bed co-combustion of poultry litter and peat. Bioresource Technology 87: 289–294.Google Scholar
JACKSON, B.P. and BERTSCH, P.M. (2001) Determination of arsenic speciation in poultry wastes by ICICP-MS. Environmental Science and Technology 35: 4868–4873.Google Scholar
JACKSON, B.P., BERTSCH, P.M., CABRERA, M.L., CAMBERATO, J.J., SEAMAN, J.C. and WOOD, C.W. (2003) Trace element speciation in poultry litter. Journal of Environmental Quality 32: 535–540.Google Scholar
JINADASA, K.B.P.N., MILHAM, P.J., HAWKINS, C.A., CORNISH, P.S., WILLIAMS, P.A., KALDOR, C.J. and CONROY, J.P. (1997) Survey of cadmium levels in vegetables and soils of greater Sydney, Australia. Journal of Environmental Quality 26: 924–933.Google Scholar
KAPLAN, J.D., JOHANSSON, R.C. and PETERS, M. (2004) The manure hits the land: Economic and environmental implications when land application of nutrients is constrained. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 86: 688–700.Google Scholar
KELLEHER, B.P., LEAHY, J.J., HENIHAN, A.M., O'DWYER, T.F., SUTTON, D. and LEAHY, M.J. (2002) Advances in poultry litter disposal technology – a review. Bioresource Technology 83: 27–36.Google Scholar
KPOMBLEKOU-A, K., ANKUMAH, R.O. and AJWA, H.A. (2002) Trace and nontrace element contents in broiler litter. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 33: 1799–1811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LIU, H.W., WALTER, H.K., VOGT, G.M., VOGT, H.S. and HOLBEIN, B.E. (2002) Steam pressure disruption of municipal solid waste enhances anaerobic digestion kinetics and biogas yield. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 77: 121–130.Google Scholar
LU, J., SANCHEZ, S., HOFACRE, C., MAURER, J.J., HARMON, B.G. and LEE, M.D. (2003) Evaluation of broiler litter with reference to the microbial composition as assessed by using 16S rRNA and functional gene markers. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 62: 901–908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCROY, R.A. and DIXON, M.W. (2002) Litter to energy: centralised projects versus ‘on-farm’ solutions. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham.Google Scholar
MEDINA, A.L., COVA, J.A., VIELMA, R.A., PUJIC, P., CARLOS, M.P. and TORRES, J.V. (2003) Immunological and chemical analysis of proteins from Eisenia foetida earthworms. Food and Agricultural Immunology 15: 255–263.Google Scholar
MOORE, P.A., DANIEL, T.C., GILMOUR, J.T., SHREVE, B.R., EDWARDS, D.R. and WOOD, B.H. (1998) Decreasing metal runoff from poultry litter with aluminium sulfate. Journal of Environmental Quality 27: 92–99.Google Scholar
MOORE, P.A., DANIEL, T.C., SHARLEY, A.N. and WOOD, C.W. (1995) Poultry manure management: environmentally sound options. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 50: 321–327.Google Scholar
NAHM, K.H. (2003) Evaluation of the nitrogen content in poultry manure. World's Poultry Science Journal 59: 77–88.Google Scholar
NASH, D., HANNAH, M., CLEMOW, L., HALLIWELL, D., WEB, B. and CHAPMAN, D. (2003) A laboratory study of phosphorus mobilisation from commercial fertilisers. Australian Journal of Soil Research 41: 1201–1212.Google Scholar
NASH, D.M. and HALLIWELL, D.J. (1999) Fertiliser and phosphorous loss from productive grazing systems. Australian Journal of Soil Research 37: 403–424.Google Scholar
NDEGWA, P.M. and THOMPSON, S.A. (2000) Integrating composting and vermicomposting in the treatment and bioconversion of biosolids. Bioresource Technology 76: 107–112.Google Scholar
NICHOLS, D.J., DANIEL, T.C., MOORE, P.A. and POTE, D.H. (1998) Use of grass filter strips to reduce 17B-estradiol in runoff from fescue-applied poultry litter. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 53: 74–77.Google Scholar
PAUDEL, K.P., ADHIKARI, M. and MARTIN, N.R. (2004) Evaluation of broiler litter transportation in northern Alabama, USA. Journal of Environmental Management 73: 13–23.Google Scholar
PEIGNE, J. and GIRARDIN, P. (2004) Environmental impacts of farm-scale composting practices. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 153: 45–68.Google Scholar
PIZL, V. and NOVAKOVA, A. (2003) Interactions between microfungi and Eisenia andrei (Oligochaeta) during cattle manure vermicomposting. Pedobiologia 47: 895–899.Google Scholar
PONUGOTI, P.R., DAHAB, M.F. and SURAMPALLI, R. (1997) Effects of different biosolids treatment systems on pathogen and pathogen indicator reduction. Water Environment Research 69: 1195–1206.Google Scholar
PORTEOUS, A. (2002) Incineration of residual municipal solid waste for both energy recovery and environmentally sound waste disposal – a consideration of selected major non-economic determinants. Journal of the Institute of Energy 75: 30–36.Google Scholar
POTE, D.H., KINGERY, W.L., AIKEN, G.E., HAN, F.X., MOORE, P.A. and BUDDINGTON, K. (2003) Water-quality effects of incorperating poultry litter into perennial grassland soils. Journal of Environmental Quality 32: 2392–2398.Google Scholar
REINECKE, A.J., HAYES, J.P. and CILLIERS, S.C. (1990) Protein quality of three different species of earthworms. South African Journal of Animal Science 21: 99–103.Google Scholar
RIBAUDO, M.O., GOLLEHON, N.R. and AGAPOFF, J. (2003) Land application of manure by animal feeding operations: Is more land needed? Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 58: 30–38.Google Scholar
RUTHERFORD, D.W., BEDNAR, A.J., GARBARINO, J.R., NEEDHAM, R., STAVER, K.W. and WERSHAW, R.L. (2003) Environmental fate of roxarsone in poultry litter. Part II. Mobility of arsenic in soils amended with poultry litter. Environmental Science & Technology 37: 1515–1520.Google Scholar
SALMINEN, E. and RINTALA, J. (2002) Anaerobic digestion of organic solid poultry slaughterhouse waste – a review. Bioresource Technology 83: 13–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SHARPE, R.R., SCHOMBERG, H.H., HARPER, L.A., ENDALE, D.M., JENKINS, M.B. and FRANZLUEBBERS, A.J. (2004) Atmospheric pollutants and trace gases. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 1183–1188.Google Scholar
SHARPLEY, A.N. and MOYER, B. (2000) Phosphorus forms in manure and compost and their release during simulated rainfall. Journal of Environmental Quality 29: 1462–1469.Google Scholar
SHEPHERD, M. and BHOGAL, A. (1998) Regular applications of poultry litter to a sandy arable soil: effects on nitrate leaching and nitrogen balance. Journal of Science, Food and Agriculture 78: 19–29.Google Scholar
SHETH, A.C. and TURNER, A.D. (2002) Kinetics and economics of catalytic steam gasification of broiler litter. Transactions of the ASAE 45: 1111–1121.Google Scholar
SMITH, C.J., BOND, W.J. and WANG, W. (1999) Waste-free: vermicompost to improved agricultural soils. CSIRO, Canberra.Google Scholar
SOMMER, S.G. and MOLLER, H.B. (2000) Emission of greenhouse gases during composting of deep litter from pig production – effect of straw content. Journal of Agricultural Science 134: 327–335.Google Scholar
TIQUIA, S.M. and TAM, N.F.Y. (2002) Characterization and composting of poultry litter in forced-aeration piles. Process Biochemistry 37: 869–880.Google Scholar
TRABLY, E., PATUREAU, D. and DELGENES, J.P. (2003) Enhancement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons removal during anaerobic treatment of urban sludge. Water Science and Technology 48: 53–60.Google Scholar
TRIPATHI, G. and BHARDWAJ, P. (2003) Decomposition of kitchen waste amended with cow manure using an epigeic species (Eisenia fetida) and an anecic species (Lampito mauritii). Bioresource Technology 92: 215–218.Google Scholar
TURNELL, J.R., HINCH, G.N. and FAULKNER, R.D. (2006) Preliminary Assessment of the Variability in Broiler Litter Composition and its Implication for Vermiculture In: Australian Poultry Science Symposium, T Scott, Sydney, pp. 230–233.Google Scholar
VERVOORT, R.W. and KEELER, A.G. (1999) The economics of land application of fresh and composted broiler litter with an environmental constraint. Journal of Environmental Management 55: 265–272.Google Scholar
VERVOORT, R.W., RADCLIFFE, D.E., CABRERA, M.L. and LATIMORE, M. (1998) Field-scale nitrogen and phosphorus losses from hayfields receiving fresh and composted broiler litter. Journal of Environmental Quality 27: 1246–1254.Google Scholar