In-Vessel Poultry Litter Composting to Facilitate Pathogen Reduction and Biofertilizer Production

  • Authors

    • Felix F UMES
    • Hashem F.M UMES
    • Millner P.D. USDA-ARS
    • McNelly J. RCM
    2020-07-01
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v7i1.16245
  • Poultry, Organic Fertilizers, Poultry Litter.

  • Abstract

    Poultry litter-based organic fertilizers are usually incorporated into soil to improve its structure and fertility to increase crop production, however, poultry litter may also contain a variety of microorganisms which can compromise the safety of fresh produce when applied on agriculture lands. Composting can be a strategy to inactivate these microorganisms while creating a soil amendment beneficial for application to arable agricultural land. The objective of this study was to design and test the effect of moisture and temperature in a mechanically aerated in-vessel composting system for the purpose of reducing bacteria concentration in poultry litter while producing bio fertilizer. The actual composting occurred in four digesters which measured 1.2m x 1.2m x 1.2m. Four treatments were utilized with four different levels of moisture content in each vessel (treatment 1=65%, treatment 2=55% treatment 3=60% treatment 4=50%).Moisture gradually decreased and reached 55%, 44% and 48%, and 38.9% for treatment 1,2,3 and 4, respectively in the final compost product. The maximum average temperatures recorded for test 1, 2, 3 and, 4 were 50.54°C, 50.9 °C, 60.7 and 71.5°C respectively compared to outside temperature (15.4°C), and these temperatures were able to significantly reduce the concentration of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus listeria. The initial concentration of the compost piles was approximately 6.57, 6.04 and 3.72 log10 CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus respectively. After analyzes, all target microorganisms were significantly eliminated. The significant levels of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus were p=0.0303, P=0.0258, p=0.0233 respectively. The presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were not detected in all sampling period. Results of in-vessel compost analyses revealed a 16.9% N reduction; 10.1% P increase and 33.7% K increase. Moisture content decreased by 52.2% and elevated C/N ratio and pH by 27.7 % and 3.30% respectively. The leachates generated from the in-vessel composting for the first 21 days were analyzed, and the average results for week 1, 2, and 3, were observed to be 1043.7 mg/L, 1335.23mg/L, and 1029.9mg/L.

     

  • References

    1. [1] Asija, A.K., Pareek, R.P. Singhania, R.A. & Singh S. (1984). Effect of method of preparation and enrichment on the quality of manure. Journal of Indian Society of Soil Science, 32 (2), 323-329.

      [2] Berry, E. D., Woodbury, B. L., Nienaber, J. A., Eigenberg, R. A., Thurston, J. A., & Wells, J. E. (2007). Incidence and Persistence of Zoonotic Bacterial and Protozoan Pathogens in a Beef Cattle Feedlot Runoff Control–Vegetative Treatment System. Journal of Environment Quality, 36(6), 1873 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2007.0100.

      [3] Bitzer, C. C., & Sims, J. T. (1988). Estimating the availability of nitrogen in poultry manure through laboratory and field studies. Journal of Environment Quality, 17(1), 47-54. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1988.00472425001700010007x.

      [4] Bolan, N., Szogi, A., Chuasavathi, T., Seshadri, B., Rothrock, M., & Panneersel, P. (2010). Uses and management of poultry litter. World's Poultry Science Journal, 66(04), 673-698. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933910000656.

      [5] Capucille, D. J., Poore, M. H., & Rogers, G. M. (2004). Growing and finishing performance of steers when fed recycled poultry bedding during the growing period1. Journal of Animal Science, 82(10), 3038-3048. https://doi.org/10.2527/2004.82103038x.

      [6] Chen, Z., & Jiang, X. (2014). Microbiological Safety of Chicken Litter or Chicken Litter-Based Organic Fertilizers: A Review. Agriculture, 4(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture4010001.

      [7] Chinivasagam, H., Redding, M., Runge, G., & Blackall, P. (2010). Presence and incidence of food-borne pathogens in Australian chicken litter. British Poultry Science, 51(3), 311-318. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2010.499424.

      [8] Elkader, N., Robin, P., Paillat, J., & Leterme, P. (2007). Turning, compacting and the addition of water as factors affecting gaseous emissions in farm manure composting. Bioresource Technology, 98(14), 2619-2628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2006.07.035.

      [9] Enticknap, J. J., Nonogaki, H., Place, A. R., & Hill, R. T. (2006). Microbial Diversity Associated with Odor Modification for Production of Fertilizers from Chicken Litter. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 72(6), 4105-4114. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02694-05.

      [10] Erickson, M. C., Liao, J., Boyhan, G., Smith, C., Ma, L., Jiang, X., & Doyle, M. P. (2010). Fate of manure-borne pathogen surrogates in static composting piles of chicken litter and peanut hulls. Bioresource Technology, 101(3), 1014-1020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.08.105.

      [11] EPA. (2000, September). In-vessel composting of biosolids. Biosolids Technology Fact Sheet [Washington DC] 832-F-00-061. pp. 1-9. Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/invessel.pdf

      [12] EPA. (2012). US recreational water quality criteria. Paper presented at United States environmental agency office of water, 820-F-12-06, 4305T.

      [13] Epstein, E. (1997). The science of composting. Technomic Publishing AG, Basel, [Switzerland].

      [14] Hadas, A., & Portnoy, R. (1994). Nitrogen and carbon mineralization rates of composted manures incubated in soil. Journal of Environment Quality, 23(6), 1184. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1994.00472425002300060008x.

      [15] Hartz, T.K., J.P. Mitchell, and C. Giannini. 2000. Nitrogen and carbon mineralization

      [16] Hamilton. (2014). Role of pH in Poultry Production. The Ag Forum [Walbridge, OH]

      [17] Harappa’s, D., R. Tomkins, K. Wilkinson, P. Franz, and R. Premier. (2003). Strategies for the safe use of poultry litter in food crop production. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. ORBIT Assoc., [Weimar, German].

      [18] Izrail S. Turovskiy and P. K. Mathai. (2006). Composting (Wastewater Sludge Processing). Retrieved from http://foodcomposting.commons.yale-nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/02/Composting-food.pdf. Accessed on February 21, 2014

      [19] Livshutz, A. (1964). Aerobic Digestion (Composting) of Poultry Manure. World's Poultry Science Journal, 20(03), 212-215. https://doi.org/10.1079/WPS19640029.

      [20] Li, X., Payne, J. B., Santos, F. B., Levine, J. F., Anderson, K. E., & Sheldon, B. W. (2007). Salmonella Populations and Prevalence in Layer Feces from Commercial High-Rise Houses and Characterization of the Salmonella Isolates by Serotyping, Antibiotic Resistance Analysis, and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis. Poultry Science, 86(3), 591-597. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/86.3.591.

      [21] Makan, A., Assobhei, O., & Mountadar, M. (2013). Effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco. Iranian Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering, 10(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/1735-2746-10-3.

      [22] Martin, S. A., McCann, M. A., & Waltman, W. D. (1998). Microbiological Survey of Georgia Poultry Litter. The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 7(1), 90-98. https://doi.org/10.1093/japr/7.1.90.

      [23] Moore Jr, P. (1997). Best Management Practices for Poultry Manure Utilization that Enhance Agricultural Productivity and Reduce Pollution. Animal Waste Utilization, 89-123. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781439822630.ch5.

      [24] Nicholson, F.A., Groves, S.J. and Chambers, B.J. (2005) Pathogen survival during livestock manure storage and following land application. Bioresource Technology 96, 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.02.030.

      [25] Paul, J. W., & Beauchamp, E. G. (1994). Short-term nitrogen dynamics in soil amended with fresh and composted cattle manures. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 74(2), 147-155. https://doi.org/10.4141/cjss94-022.

      [26] Preusch, P. L., Adler, P. R., Sikora, L. J., & Tworkoski, T. J. (2002). Nitrogen and phosphorus availability in composted and uncomforted poultry litter. Journal of Environment Quality, 31(6), 2051-7. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2002.2051.

      [27] Rankins, D. L., Poore, M. H., Capucille, D. J., & Rogers, G. M. (2002). Recycled poultry bedding as cattle feed. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Food Animal Practice, 18(2), 253-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-0720(02)00015-4.

      [28] Raza, S., & Ahmad, J. (2016). Composting process: a review. International Journal of Biological Research, 4(2), 102. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v4i2.6354.

      [29] Ruiz, D., Doug, S., & Tomlinson, P. (2013). Nutrient availability and value of poultry litter. The AgPro e-newsletter [Kansas State University].

      [30] Rynk, R. (1992). On-farm composting handbook. Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, Cooperative Extension [Ithaca, N.Y], p. 186.

      [31] Sharpley, A., Slaton, N., Tabler, Jr, T., VanDevender, K., Daniels, M., Jones, F., & Tommy, D. (2000). Nutrient analysis of poultry litter. University of Arkansas, Agriculture and Natural Resources [Lawrence, KS].

      [32] Shepherd, M. W., Liang, P., Jiang, X., Doyle, M. P., & Erickson, M. C. (2007). Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during On-Farm Dairy Manure–Based Composting. Journal of Food Protection, 70(12), 2708-2716. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-70.12.2708.

      [33] Sims, J. T., Murphy, D. W., & Handwerker, T. S. (1993). Composting of Poultry Wastes. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 2(4), 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1300/J064v02n04_07.

      [34] Singh, R., Kim, J., Shepherd, M. W., Luo, F., & Jiang, X. (2011). Determining Thermal Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Fresh Compost by Simulating Early Phases of the Composting Process. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77(12), 4126-4135. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02873-10.

      [35] Stern, N. J., & Robach, M. C. (2003). Enumeration of Campylobacter spp. in Broiler Feces and in Corresponding Processed Carcasses. Journal of Food Protection, 66(9), 1557-1563. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-66.9.1557.

      [36] Tchobanoglous, G., H.Theisen and S.Vigil, (1993). Integrated Solid Waste Management. Mc Graw Hill, Inc., USA

      [37] The composting Council of Canada. (2017). Give back to the earth-compost. National Organics Recycling Conference. Retrieved from http://www.compost.org/English/PDF/2017_CCC_Conference_Agenda_ENGLISH.pdf

      [38] Tiquia, S. M., & Tam, N. F. (2002). Characterization and composting of poultry litter in forced-aeration piles. Process Biochemistry, 37(8), 869-880. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0032-9592(01)00274-6.

      [39] U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2008). Quick Stats – agricultural statistics database. National Agricultural Statistics Service. [Washington, D.C.],

      [40] VanDevender, K., Langston, J., & Daniels, M. (2000). Utilizing dry poultry litter – An overview. University of Arkansas Arkansas Coop. Ext. Ser. [Little Rock, Arkansas], FSA8000.

      [41] Wilkinson, K. G., Tee, E., Tomkins, R. B., Hepworth, G., & Premier, R. (2010). Effect of heating and aging of poultry litter on the persistence of enteric bacteria. Poultry Science, 90(1), 10-18. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2010-01023.

      [42] Wilkinson, S. R. (1979). Plant Nutrient and Economic Valus of Animal Manures. Journal of Animal Science, 48(1), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas1979.481121x.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    F, F., F.M, H., P.D., M., & J., M. (2020). In-Vessel Poultry Litter Composting to Facilitate Pathogen Reduction and Biofertilizer Production. International Journal of Biological Research, 7(1), 19-25. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v7i1.16245

    Received date: 2018-07-25

    Accepted date: 2019-04-18

    Published date: 2020-07-01