Characteristics of ammonia and carbon dioxide releases from layer hen manure

1. Ammonia (NH3) is an important gaseous pollutant generated from manure in commercial poultry farms and has been an environmental, ecological, and health concern. Poultry manure also releases carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a greenhouse gas and is often used as a tracer gas to calculate building ventilation. 2. A 38-d laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of NH3 and CO2 releases from layer hen manure using 4 manure reactors (122 cm tall, 38 cm internal diameter), which were initially filled with 66 cm deep manure followed by weekly additions of 5 cm to simulate manure accumulation in commercial layer houses. 3. The average daily mean (ADM) NH3 and CO2 release fluxes for the 4 reactors during the entire study were 1615 +/- 211 mu g/s.m2 (ADM +/- 95% confidence interval) and 100 +/- 03 mg/s.m2, respectively. The daily mean NH3 and CO2 releases in individual reactors varied from 352 to 6791 mu g/s.m2 and from 66 to 205 mg/s.m2, respectively. 4. The ADM NH3 release flux was within the range of those obtained in 4 high-rise layer houses by Liang et al. (2005, Transactions of the ASAE, 48). However, the CO2 release flux in this study was about 10 to 13 times as high as the data reported by Liang et al. (2005). Fresh manure had greater NH3 release potential than the manure in the reactors under continuous ventilation. Manure with higher contents of moisture, total nitrogen, and ammonium in the 4th weekly addition induced 11 times higher NH3 and 75% higher CO2 releases immediately after manure addition compared with pre-addition releases.