Reducing Ammonia Emissions from Broiler Houses.

Ammonia (NH3) emissions from animal manure, such as poultry litter, can cause air quality problems. These emissions also result in excessive nitrogen (N) loading into aquatic environments which can lead to water quality problems where N is the limiting nutrient for eutrophication, such as the Chesapeake Bay. Poultry litter treatment (PLT, sodium bisulfate) is an acidic amendment that is currently applied to litter in poultry houses to decrease ammonia emissions, but currently it can only be applied before birds are placed in the houses. This presentation will discuss the efficacy of a new system that is capable of applying several additions of PLT to poultry litter throughout the growth of a flock, for reducing ammonia emissions . Ammonia flux measurements were made constantly from two broiler houses, one with the re-application PLT system and one without. The efficacy of this technology for ammonia capture and the implications for poultry production will be discussed.