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SUMMARY Listeria monocytogenes can be present in poultry processing and further processing plants, where it can colonize floor drains. This is a concern as the potential exists for cross-contamination of product contact surfaces or even fully cooked product. Self-contained chlorine dioxide-generating and delivery pods were tested as a means to sanitize uninoculated floor drains and L. monocytogenes-inoculated model floor drains. Free-swimming and attached bacteria were enumerated in drains. Standing water and the inner surface of treated drains had significantly lower bacterial numbers than did untreated drains. Listeria monocytogenes numbers decreased by up to 8.7 log cfu/mL in standing water (>99.999999%) and 6.7 log cfu (>99.9999%) as attached cells. Commercially available chlorine dioxide pods may have practical utility for killing L. monocytogenes during periodic sanitization of floor drains in poultry processing facilities.

Poultry transportation coops are rarely washed and have been demonstrated to be a point of cross-contamination of broiler carcasses. Foaming disinfectants and cleaners, commonly used within processing plants, may be used to clean and disinfect poultry transportation coops. In this study, homogenized fecal material was evenly applied to the floors of precleaned broiler transportation coops and allowed to dry. Treatments consisted of a water rinse, a foam additive alone, foaming cleaner, and a disinfectant plus a foam additive. All foaming treatments were applied using a compressed air foam system (2,271 L/min; 600 gal/min), similar to what firefighters would use. A high-pressure water rinse (HPWR) was added prior to or following the treatments to determine whether rinsing prior to product application or rinsing after product application would improve efficacy. Based on our data, a compressed air foam system may be used in combination with a commercially available disinfectant or foam cleaner to reduce aerobic bacteria on the surfaces of commercial broiler transportation coops. Furthermore, the addition of a HPWR did not further reduce the level of aerobic bacteria on broiler transportation coop floors.

SUMMARY The study of ammonia emissions from composting poultry mortalities has been a topic of interest due to concerns about air quality effects from agricultural facilities. In previous poultry mortality composting research, it was reported that ammonia emissions are strongly affected by increasing the pH of the compost pile above 8. To verify these findings, a project was initiated to examine composting poultry mortalities while using different amendments within the pile and observing the effects on the gaseous emissions. Each pile was constructed using 2 layers of spent hen carcasses, with one layer below and one layer above the intermediate amendment. Each pile design was constructed in triplicate to assist in data verification and statistical analysis. All piles were constructed using fresh woodchips for the base and cap material. The intermediate amendments were chosen based on their availability, applicability for mortality composting, and pH buffering. The control pile had woodchips as the intermediate amendment, as it had a pH closest to neutral (7.4). The 2 additional pile designs consisted of intermediate amendment layers with either poultry compost, a lower pH material of 5.5, or poultry litter, a slightly higher pH material of 7.5. Air samples were collected using a dynamic flux chamber drawing fresh air across the pile face at a known volumetric flow rate of approximately 370 m 3 /h. Based on the results of this experiment, using poultry litter for composting may not be

The quantity of poultry manure generated each year is large, and technologies that take advantage of the material should be explored. At the same time, increased emphasis on the reduction of mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power plants has resulted in environmental regulations that may, in the future, require application of activated carbons as mercury sorbents. The sorbents could be injected into the flue gas stream, where they could adsorb the mercury. The sorbents (now containing mercury) would be removed via filtration or other means from the flue gas. Our preliminary work has demonstrated that activated carbon made from poultry manure can adsorb mercury from air with good efficiency. In laboratory experiments, an activated carbon made from turkey cake manure removed the majority of elemental mercury from a hot air stream. Other activated carbons made from chicken and turkey litter manure were also efficient. In general, unwashed activated carbons made from poultry manure were more efficient in removing mercury than their acid-washed counterparts. The results suggest that the adsorption of mercury was mainly due to chemisorption on the surface of the carbon. Other potential uses for the activated carbons are the removal of mercury from air and natural gas.

SUMMARY Greater understanding of the mechanisms affecting NH3 volatilization from reused broiler bedding is needed to determine pathways for mitigating NH3 emissions. A chamber acid trap (CAT) system was developed to provide an improved laboratory method for determining NH3 volatilization from litter or cake samples and for assessing treatment technologies to decrease NH3 losses from poultry litter. The CAT system offers precision control of air flow rate through sample chambers as well as straightforward, precise determination of the amount of N volatilized. This article outlines the basic setup of the CAT system. The system can be utilized and modified for researching specific mechanisms involving physical, chemical, or biological treatments affecting NH3 volatilization from litter or cake.

Broiler transport coops become soiled with feces during use. When this fecal matter contains Campylobacter, the result can be cross-contamination of subsequent flocks that were previously free of this important human pathogen. Because washing and sanitizing coops requires large amounts of water and is not always effective enough to justify the expense, few broiler companies wash and sanitize dump coops between flocks. In this lab-scale study, a tap water spray was effective in lowering the numbers of bacteria, including Campylobacter, associated with broiler transport coop flooring. Immersion in a chemical sanitizer after spray washing did not enhance the antibacterial effect. It is possible that sanitizing treatments could be made more effective by using higher concentrations of chemicals, high temperature treatment, or high pressure or repeated applications of water spray. However, such changes would come at a cost. Research is needed to find new and innovative ways to lower bacterial numbers in broiler transport coops without undue use of water and the associated expense.

SUMMARY In order to develop an effective bacterial aerosol sampling system for commercial poultry housing, total bacterial populations were monitored using different air-sampling systems in a poultry layer house. To find the optimum sampling time for the detection of airborne bacteria, an axial fan Puralator filter (a home air conditioning filter attached to a household box fan), a circulating fan filter (glass fiber filter attached to a circulating fan with an adjustable flow rate), and all-glass impinger samples were compared over 2 d. Accumulated samples were collected continuously over 36 h, and nonaccumulated samples were collected concurrently during 4 distinct periods within this 36-h collection period. The air-sampling results also were compared with conventional drag-swab samples from the same poultry house environment. Total bacterial colonyforming units recovered from impingers and circulating fan filters were typically less variable. The axial fan samples by comparison had higher variability. Overall aerosol bacterial counts were higher when collected by the impactors before adjusting for airflow rate. Higher yields of total bacterial colony-forming units were recovered from impingers after being recalculated for airflow rate. The further development of aerosol sampling systems may allow for continuous monitoring of microbial populations in a poultry layer house.

Several non-conventional methods of removing feathers from poultry carcasses, such as simultaneous scalding and picking or steam scalding, reportedly yield better carcass microbiological quality than traditional immersion scalding and in-line picking. Many plants have installed multiple-tank counterflow scalders to reduce the number of bacteria in scald water at the point where carcasses leave the tank. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the microbiological effect of removing feathers from carcasses while they are out of the scald water moving between the tanks of a multiple-tank scalder. Partially defeathered carcasses in such a system would later pass through tanks with cleaner hot water, which might enhance any bactericidal or washing effect of the hot scald water, and much smaller quantities of feces and other contamination should enter the last picking machines. In the laboratory processing plant, however, intermittent scalding and picking of carcasses failed to show any reduction in umbers of aerobic bacteria, E. coli, or Campylobacter on carcasses rinsed immediately after the final defeathering step.

A general recommendation is to keep ammonia levels in poultry facilities below 25 ppm. Unfortunately, a reliable, inexpensive method of determining ammonia levels has not been well established. To address this situation, ammonia concentrations, as determined by the Ammonia Quick Test and the passive dosimeter tube, were compared to the ammonia concentration determined by the gas detector tube. The ammonia Quick Test estimated ammonia levels accurately at levels of 20-25 ppm of ammonia. The passive dosimeter tubes estimated average ammonia levels accurately at low levels of ammonia. Comparisons of ammonia concentration to relative humidity suggest that ammonia can increase much more rapidly than relative humidity.

The light output and lamp life of compact fluorescent (CF) lamps placed in three commercial caged-layer poultry facilities were studied. Only 7- and 9-watt CF lamps were used. This study revealed that the 7-watt lamp maintained 82% of its original light output with 34% of the lamps still operating after 23,000 hr of on time. The 9-watt lamps maintained 71.84% of their original light output with 34% of the lamps still operating after more than 23,000 hr of on time. The mean failure rate for both 7- and 9-watt lamps was 21,480 hr with no ballast failures.

SUMMARY Development of a net energy (NE) system in poultry has been a topic of research for many decades, following its successful implementation in pigs. However, up to now, no such system for poultry is in use, as the added value of a NE system in poultry over the current AME system(s) has not yet been demonstrated. In this paper, the merits and limits of a NE system in poultry are discussed for fast-growing broilers.

Air emissions generated by poultry operations are numerous and varied in form. The emissions have implications for the environment and for health of humans, animals, and plants. Regulations of emissions are being proposed and implemented; however, available data are inadequate to support the regulations. The current symposium began with a discussion of the present challenges and future direction in regard to air emissions in poultry production. The authors noted the need for further development and implementation of whole farm systems to mitigate air emissions. One problem encountered in emissions research is the lack of satisfactory methods for measuring gas or particulate concentrations and emission rates from poultry buildings. One presentation addressed this in presenting a method for measuring ammonia. The interrelationships of ammonia emission measurement, variations, factors affecting, and regulation constraints were presented in another paper. Other papers explored dietary strategies to reduce nitrogen excretion and bird and house management regimens to reduce emissions. One presentation provided insight into the effects that environmental regulations have had on the animal industries in The Netherlands and the European Union. The symposium concluded with a period of discussion. Paul Patterson (Pennsylvania State University) coordinated the symposium with Roselina Angel (University of Maryland) and Anthony Pescatore (University of Kentucky).

SUMMARY The supply of dietary energy is of critical importance to all animals and is of large economic impact for the poultry industry. Over time, livestock nutritionists have refined the measurement of dietary energy, and the expression of energy requirements from digestible energy (DE), to metabolizable energy (ME), and ultimately to net energy (NE), subdivided into NE for maintenance and NE for production. Commercial dairy, beef, and swine nutritionists have largely moved to expressing energy in terms of NE, but the poultry industry has not been as quick to make the transition from ME. The symposium papers explore the benefits and limitations in the use of NE for broilers, strengths and limitations of various sources of feedstuff energy values, the partitioning of dietary energy into retained energy and heat production, and the utilization of synthetic amino acids for energy by the bird.

Limited data on pollutant emissions from poultry operations are available to assess the effect of these operations on the environment and to put their contribution in perspective with other sources of pollutants. To alleviate this problem, numerous studies at various poultry facilities have been undertaken to improve the knowledge base in quantifying emissions of NH3 and size-fractionated particulate matter (PM). For these emission data to be of practical use for government agencies and policy makers, the emission rates must be reported as an emission factor with a production unit that enables the emissions from one poultry operation to be correlated to another poultry operation. This paper presents a compilation of NH3 and PM emission data from several studies in the form of emission factor on a per-500 kg of live weight or animal unit basis. In addition, best management practices that lower pollutant emissions from poultry operations have been reported along with their effectiveness at reducing NH3 and PM. Unfortunately, the compiled data were insufficient to characterize the variability in emissions caused by differences in house design, suggesting that more studies are needed to complete a comprehensive emission inventory. Once complete, this inventory will enable poultry producers to estimate emissions from their facilities and, if necessary, select management practice(s) to lessen their emissions of NH3, PM, or both.

SUMMARY Public concerns related to air quality effects of intensive dairy and poultry operations have grown considerably in recent years. Pollutants of concern include particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, and odors. Although public pressure translates into legislative and regulatory action, there are insufficient data on character, amount, dispersion, and mitigation of air pollutants to establish appropriate and effective regulations. By using California case studies, the present paper shows livestock and poultry producers as well as regulatory agencies how the lack of science in air emission estimates and mitigation can lead to dramatic effects on animal agriculture without improving air quality.

SUMMARY A literature review on production and control of nuisance odor from land application, processing, and storage of broiler litter is presented in this paper. The review identifies several odor production factors and odor control strategies based upon research conducted on litter and manure from poultry and other species. Published research lacks information on odor emissions and control of odor as affected by litter moisture conditions, loading and transportation of litter, application site factors, and weather conditions (prior, during, and after litter application). For this reason, several studies, mostly from peer-reviewed publications on ammonia emissions from broiler operations and various species were included. It was inferred that conditions that cause increased ammonia emissions may also be favorable for the production and increase in odor from land application, processing and storage of broiler litter. New nuisance odor assessment tools, such as the model odor from feedlots setback estimation tool (OFFSET), provide a better control on setback distances for improved community relations. Consideration of wind speed, direction, and weather condition during land application, incorporation of land-applied litter, covering of litter in storage and while in transportation, and processing, such as composting of litter and mortality, were all considered as practices that help minimize odor emission.

Increased attention by regulatory agencies on agriculturally generated atmospheric pollutants necessitates consideration of emission reduction strategies in broiler facility management. Various remedial activities exist that can greatly reduce off-site transport of odorous compounds, ammonia and dust; however, descriptive collections of the different technologies remains limited in the literature. Therefore, this review aims to collect research findings into a comprehensive examination of both established and innovative remedial activities. Furthermore, this paper identifies management practices that warrant further research or require investigation of technology transfer potential from other livestock production types to broiler operations. Installation and operating costs are listed when available to provide insight into the economic viability of a remedial activity based on air quality needs. Used in conjunction with an appropriate pollutant management plan, the reviewed remedial practices may prove to abate odor, ammonia, and dust problems originating from broiler operations.

Wood shavings used for poultry bedding may become increasingly difficult or expensive to obtain. A post-consumer paper product, derived of pelletized newspaper, was evaluated to determine the feasibility of its use as an alternative type of turkey bedding. Results of these trials indicate that a pelletized newspaper product can be used as successfully as pine shavings for bedding under brooding turkeys. Turkeys brooded on the newspaper bedding had weight gains equal to their shavings-brooded counterparts. Mortality was reduced by using the pelletized newspaper.

Formaldehyde gas fumigation has been recognized for many years as an effective decontamination procedure to sterilize a variety of airborne and surface microorganisms. Although automated systems are commercially available to generate formaldehyde gas, they tend to be very expensive and more complicated than is necessary for many applications. Also, they do not provide any means of assuring that gas levels are safe for occupancy by personnel following a treatment. Over a period of several years, areas in approximately 15 buildings at the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, GA have been decontaminated with a very basic, manually mixed, formaldehyde gas generation system. The decontamination was followed by several hours of mechanical clearing of the gas, using remotely operated exhaust fans. Interest in maximizing worker safety and providing simple and affordable fumigation led to the design of the automated systems described in this paper - one for formaldehyde gas generation, the other for formaldehyde gas neutralization. Proper use of these systems minimizes formaldehyde exposure risk for workers. Both systems can be easily constructed, and they have been used successfully for several years.

A popular notion among researchers is that management of animal environments could be improved with the use of physiological data collected in real time. This is a sort of “listen to the patient” approach to climate control. What variables to monitor and just how to use them is the subject of much research. Deep body temperature (DBT) has been pointed out in the literature as a potential indicator of heat stress. In this paper, we describe a number of investigations into the responsiveness and on-line measurability of DBT in commercial broilers. A biotelemetry system monitored DBT responses of broilers to changes in ambient temperature and relative humidity. Birds were less able to maintain their DBT when increases of ambient temperature occurred at faster rates. These results indicate that DBT is quite responsive to changes in the ambient environment. This together with the fact that responses could be measured on-line, make DBT a good stress indicator in poultry.

The method used to determine the microbiological quality of fresh poultry is extremely important. Some sampling methods are suitable for estimating general populations of bacteria without destroying product integrity, while other methods are appropriate for detecting the presence of pathogens that may be on the carcass in low numbers. This paper describes in detail the commonly used methods for sampling fresh poultry and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each method.

This paper describes several microbiological sampling methods that may be used for determining the cleanliness of poultry processing plant equipment, including surface swabbing, agar contact, hygiene contact slides, dry medium film, impedance, and ATP bioluminescence. Advantages and disadvantages associated with each method are mentioned. This article will be helpful to anyone faced with the task of microbiologically monitoring poultry processing equipment after sanitation.