Poultry housing technology cuts ammonia

The Environmental Poultry House at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is fitted with a new flooring technology designed to reduce the ammonia emissions associated with poultry waste.

Rather than the traditional woodchips or sawdust common in chicken houses, broilers stand on smooth flooring made of a ventilated plastic covering that is exposed to air. The air dries the manure droppings and reduces the nitrogen-producing uric acid that emits ammonia, while cutting chicken house waste by up to 80 percent.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted $500,000 to the University for the project, which is being undertaken in co-operation with a Maryland engineering firm.

“It is an innovative project [impacting] the environment, bird health, human health,” said Jeannine Harter-Dennis, a UMES professor of Poultry Science overseeing the project.

The poultry ventilation system is the first known of its kind in the United States and perhaps the world, although other moisture-reduction methods have been tried in Europe, Harter-Dennis said.

Officials said the technology, developed by AviHome, provides a prototype for growers worldwide and a shield for the region’s poultry industry against further profit loss and environmental adversity.