Assessment of frequent litter amendment application on ammonia emission from broilers operations

Litter amendments have been used to control the ammonia (NH3) emission from the broiler litter during the brooding period. One of the commercially available litter amendments, sodium bisulfate, was frequently applied on the litter with two different rates on weekly basis in a laboratory setup and with a single rate on biweekly basis under field conditions. Repeated application of sodium bisulfate led to significant reduction in NH3 emissions from broilers. The magnitude of NH3 emission reduction increases with the application rate of sodium bisulfate. The reduction rates of cumulative emissions with 366 g/wk-m(2) (75 lb/wk-1000 ft(2)) rate (from 14% to 64.5%) were higher than the reduction rate of 183 g/wk-m(2) (37.5 lb/wk-1000 ft(2)) rate (from 0% to 55%) from 28 to 61 days of age. The cumulative NH3 emission was reduced by 51.7% with 244 g/2 wk-m(2) (50 lb/2 wk-1000 ft(2)) rate over a three-flock period (8-wk average grow-out per flock) under field production conditions. Sodium bisulfate application showed no significant difference on body weight and feed conversion efficiency. However, footpad quality was significantly improved by sodium bisulfate application. Litter pH and ammonia nitrogen level of the litter were decreased by sodium bisulfate application with both rates. Organic and total nitrogen contents in the litter were higher, whereas less nitrogen was emitted as NH3. The laboratory-scale findings of emission reduction by the additives should be considered to be preliminary if the additives are to be applied under commercial production settings.