AMMONIA MANAGEMENT IN POULTRY PRODUCTION
The goal for most producers is either to avoid high concentrations of ammonia in the first place, or to control induced inflammations and minimize the impacts on bird health and performance.
Here are five ways to reduce ammonia levels in poultry houses:
1. Ration composition and diet management, provision of a balanced, complete diet is of the highest importance. Problems occurring due to high-performance genetics, feed formulation and medication can lead to production of wet manure, causing increased ammonia and odor release alongside reduced broiler performance and feed efficiency.
2. Optimize the poultry stocking density to help limit excessive moisture in the poultry house, so reducing anaerobic processes.
3.Adjust the ventilation rate – if ammonia levels increase, more ventilation is needed. However, this should only be in accordance with the climate and temperature of the poultry house.
Learn More4. Temperature adjustments should be made relating to house climate and welfare.
5. Improve nutrient digestibility. This could also be achieved by supplementing diets with additives.
Read also: Effects of ammonia gas in Poultry
Of this list, dietary management is the most important preventative measure. The total amount of nitrogen within the birds’ feces can be considerably reduced by formulating diets based on the birds’ amino acid requirement instead of on total crude protein. As the percentage of crude protein in the diet is lowered and replaced with conventional sources of protein (e.g. soybean meal, sunflower meal) with synthetic amino acids, nutrient retention is maximized. Reducing dietary protein by 3-5% may cause a reduction of 60% or more in total nitrogen excretion from broilers and laying hens.
A well-balanced diet contains highly digestible ingredients and functional feed additives that can improve the digestibility of nutrients in the small intestine of birds. Inflammation caused by stress may dramatically decrease the ability of the birds to digest and absorb nutrients including proteins
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