D2-L«ncaster Fanning Saturday, May 4,1991 Need For Poultry Husbandry Important Herbert C. Jordan Associate Professor Poultry Science Penn State UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Careful husbandry can reduce pollution from poultry manure and/or litter incorporated into soil. Consider one or more of the fol lowing to reduce excess nitrogen, phosphorus, salts, or potash, as well as other compounds in the soil. • Control or reduce excess molt of feathers from birds. Feathers in manure and/or litter may decom pose as nitrogen in the soil when incorporated before sundown the day of spreading. Feathers can be hydrolized and converted into a feed ingredient for a protein source so therefore may give nitrogen to the soil upon decomposition. This • Not An Auction... ALL TRUCKS REASONABLY PRICED Over 400 Trucks For Sale In The Banquet Room Of The Chimney Corner Restaurant Ijuimcp Coma’ 11 1 RESTAURANT AND MOTOR LODGE Rothsvllle Rd., Litltz, Pa, 717/626-4707 needs further testing, • Prevent feed waste from feed ers into manure or litter. Some farms appear to waste one to 10 percent or more of all feed pur chased into the manure and/or lit ter. Feed has plenty of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and salts in it. Feed can behave in the soil as fertilizer, so if it is wasted in man ure and/or litter it may add to pol lution of soil or water as well as cause loss of net income. • Prevent mice, rats, and insects from reproducing or living in man ure and/or litter. Waste material from these species, dead animals, larvae or pupae, or. adult insects can increase nitrogen or other min eral nutrients of the soil when incorporated. This needs more field testing to determine the value or harm of the chemistry of manure in the soil. • Urates from kidneys of birds Located At The East End Of Lititz, Rt. 772 (E. Main St.) are high in nitrogen and usually adhere or stick to the manure, whereas urine from mammals is liquid and may remain near the bam and not accompany manure to the field. Poultry manure is usually perceived to be higher in nitrogen than manure and/or litter from mammals. Part of the reason for this is that nitrogen-rich urates adhere to manure in a normal bird dropping. • Eggs from cage layers drop through cage floors into manure when the eggshell fails. In flocks where an eggshell problem exists, two dozen or more eggs per layer, on the average, may fall through cage floors to become part of man ure which can represent 1-2 per cent of the manure on a dry weight basis. Egg protein can add nitrogen to soil when incorporated. Raw egg albumen, if in excess, can plug up a drain field. Eggshell damage PA Straley Farm Supply, Inc. 1760 East Canal Road Dover, PA 17315 717-292-2631 Marshall Machinery, Inc. LAND PRIDE gQ I Pennsylvania! Keller Brothers R 7 Box 405 Lebanon, PA 17042 717-949-6501 1950 Fruitville Pike Lancaster, PA 717-569-2345 Rt 654 Honesdale, PA 18431 717-729-7117 Wm. Hobensack’s & Sons 1060 Greeley Avenue Ivyland, PA 18974 215-675-1610 problems should be avoided through purchase of a valuable strain of layer, then caring for its environment, nutrition, health, and behavior to keep eggshell damage at or near zero. • Dust or particulate matter in a poultry house has been found to contain a significantly high quanti ty of feather or dander-like mater ial. Excess dust can be vacuumed off the walls of a poultry house or kept to a minimum by keeping birds healthy, behaving normally, and not fighting or trying to fly or stampede. • Chemical agents placed in lit ter and/or manure for control of odor, toxic gas production, flies, destructive insects, rodents or microbes should be approved by the crop or field supervisor or agronomist Chemicals added to manure and/or litter may pollute when incorporated into the soil. • Grit (insoluble or calcium) may destroy knives, pumps, or val ves if manure and/or litter is pumped or used in a methane or bio-gas generator. • Debris, such as garbage, sweepings, tools, equipment parts, filler flats, cracked eggs, dead birds, and body fluids, may cause pollution in soil to increase or decrease depending on what the debris is. Some debris may not Pikeville Equipment Inc. RD 2, Oysterdale Road Oley, PA 19547 215-987-6277 Tractor Parts Co. 335 Central Road Bloomsburg, PA 17815 717-784-0250 Stouffer Bros. Inc. 1066 Lincoln Way West Chambersburg, PA 17201 717-263-8424 Stoltzfus Farm Service Cochranville, PA 717-593-2407 M.S.Yearsley & Sons West Chester, PA 215-696-2990 Finch Services-Hanover Inc. 515 Frederick St. Hanover, PA 717-632-2345 affect soil pollution. • Bedding for litter may or may not worsen pollution. A chopped straw bedding may actually com post and improve soils. A wood by-product bedding may extract nitrogen from soils when it decom poses, making less nitrogen avail able to crops. In summary: • Some soil testing and manure testing labs report poultry manure is getting more concentrated in N, P, K and salts on a dry weight basis over the last 30 years while other laboratory reports disagree. • Failure to have percent mois ture of manure reported along with nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and salts is confusing the situation. All quantities, qualities, and weights should be reported on a dry weight basis. • When submitting a soil sample, consider requesting that a total soluble salts be tested through conductivity, which will be reported as millimhos/cm. If the result is above 40, ask your agro nomist about it. • If bird bowel is kept normal and manure is produced in a stool form, it can be aerated, dried, or composted to maintain quality of manure for sale. If this does not happen, manure can cost each farm many thousands of dollars annually. Norman D. Clark & Son, Inc! Honey Grove, PA 717-734-3682 ' Loysville, PA 717-789-3117 Nicarry Equipment Co. RD 2, Rt. 61, 3 Miles S. of Leesport Reading, PA 215-926-2441 I.G. Sales & Service Box 200, Silverdale, PA 18962 215-257-5135 I NEW JERSEY Owen Supply Co. East Avenue & Broad St Woodstown, N.J. 08098 609-769-0308 Caldwell Tractor & Equipment, Inc. 480 U.S. Route 46 Fairfield. N.J, 07006 201-227-6772 Rodio Tractor Sales North White Horse Pike Hammonton. N.J. 08037 609-561-0141 Frank Rymon & Sons, RD 3, Box 355 Washington, N.J. 07882 201-689-1464 Reed Brothers Petticoat Bridge Rd, Columbus, N.J. 08022 609-267-3363 Trenton Ford New Holland 2836 Brunswick Pike Trenton, N.J. 08648 609-883-7360
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers