Dust, ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions associated with … · Dust, ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions associated with three housing types for laying hens EMILI 2017 - 3rd International

Dust, ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions associated with three housing types for laying hens

Philippe, F.X.1, Larouche, J.P. 2, Palacios, J.2, Pelletier, F.2, Mahmoudi, Y. 2, 3, Godbout, S.2, 3

1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium;2 Institute for Research and Development in Agroenvironment, Québec, Canada;

3 Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Laval, Québec, Canada


EMILI 2017 - 3rd International Symposium on Emissions of Gas and Dust from Livestock – May 21-24 2017, Saint-Malo, France


Material and methods – Experimental design

• 12 pilot-scale chambers (1.2 m width, 2.4 m height, 2.4 m length)• 3 treatments : Battery cage (BC) – Enriched cage (EC) – Aviary (AV)• 360 Lohmann LSL-Lite laying hens (30 birds per chambers)• Commercial diet ad libitum (17.1% CP, 11.5 kJ ME)• 70 days of measurement from week 23 to 32 of hen’s age



Battery cage (BC) Enriched cage (EC) Aviary (AV)


Material and methods – Housing conditions











• Ambient parameters (ventilation, T°, RH)

• Production performance (body weights, feed/water intakes, laying rate)

• Manure characteristics (amount, composition)

• Gas concentration and emissionsTotal dust (sampling rate of 2 L/min, 1 filter/chamber.week)NH3 (non-dispersive infrared analyser)CH4 and CO2 (gas chromatography)

Material and methods - Measurements



Results and discussion – Ambient conditions


Temperature (°C) 19.8a 19.7a 20.3b

Relative humidity (%) 28.5a 26.5b 28.5a

Ventilation rate (m3 h-1 hen-1) 4.14a 3.95b 4.29c



Results and discussion – Production performance


Initial weight (kg) 1.516a 1.524a 1.519a

Final weight (kg) 1.692a 1.605b 1.587b

Weight gain (kg) 175.3a 78.7b 64.6b

Laying rate (%) 96.3a 96.6a 77.2b

Egg weight (g) 59.6a 59.3a 58.6b

Feed intake (g day-1) 123.4a 119.9ab 117.8ab

Feed conversion

(kg feed dz-1 eggs) 1.61a 1.60a 2.12b

(kg feed kg-1 eggs) 2.26a 2.24a 3.03b

Water intake

(mL day-1) 188.9a 177.8a 189.7a

(L kg-1 feed) 1.65a 1.65a 1.79b



Results and discussion – Manure characteristics


Droppings Droppings Droppings Litter

Amount (g hen-1 day-1) 70.8 ± 5.1 55.2 ± 3.1 4.4 ± 0.1 44.8 ± 1.9

pH 6.27 ± 0.06 6.33 ± 0.03 6.46 ± 0.07 8.38 ± 0.11

Dry matter (%) 50.5 ± 3.6 55.4 ± 3.8 72.3 ± 8.0 73.3 ± 0.2

Organic matter (%) 36.5 ± 2.4 40.0 ± 2.9 52.3 ± 5.2 55.9 ± 0.2

Nitrogen

(g N kg-1) 29.5 ± 0.5 35.0 ± 1.7 39.1 ± 1.3 27.9 ± 0.6

(mg N-NH4+ kg-1) 3.25 ± 0.37 3.14 ± 0.12 3.82 ± 0.19 3.56 ± 0.91

C/N ratio 12.3 ± 0.3 10.4 ± 0.4 9.5 ± 0.6 10 ± 0.3

Ash (g kg-1) 140 ± 13 154 ± 16 200 ± 28 175 ± 0.0

Phosphorus (g P kg-1) 8.0 ± 0.1 9.9 ± 0.7 10.8 ± 0.4 10.0 ± 0.0

Potassium (g K kg-1) 11.5 ± 0.6 13.8 ± 0.8 15.8 ± 0.7 14.2 ± 0.7

Calcium (g Ca kg-1) 31.9 ± 2.4 40.5 ± 1.6 46.8 ± 4.9 33.7 ± 0.9



Results and discussion – Total dust



Results and discussion – Ammonia (NH3)



Results and discussion – Methane (CH4)



Results and discussion – Carbon dioxide (CO2)



Conclusion

• Laying performance :

Cages systems : BC = ECAviaries :

• Gas releases :

≅ Greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2) with the 3 systems (BC-EC-AV)

Aviaries : NH3 and dust

Impacts on environment and health of animals/workers

• EC = balance between performance, environment and welfare

• Needs for adaptation/development of new housing designs for aviaries

• Comprehensive assessment including welfare, environment and profitability



Acknowledgements

Thank you for your attention

Dust, ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions associated with … · Dust, ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions associated with three housing types for laying hens EMILI 2017 - 3rd International

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