Optimization of Composting Systems for Laying Hen Carcasses
Composting, Laying hen, Inoculante, crushed/grinded, agriculture waste
Intensive livestock production, including laying birds, generates over 1 million tonnes of dead animals per year. This project aims to develop composting systems optimized for carcasses of commercial laying birds. Four full-scale treatments based on aerobic stabilization/degradation processes, controlled by physicochemical and microbiological parameters were installed, with the possibility of adding value to the final product, tested from agronomic potential assays, including phytotoxicity assays. The experimental design is completely randomized, with triplicate experiments. Six hundred birds were used, 40 in each treatment containing whole birds (treatments 1 and 2, without and with bacterial inoculation, respectively) and 60 in the treatments with crushed birds (treatments 3 and 4, with and without bacterial inoculation, respectively). Each treatment has 115 kg of wet shavings (55%), divided into 5 layers interspersed with carcasses. The initial theoretical C/N ratio will vary between 15 and 25. Each replica occupies a volume of 1 m3, arranged in a waterproof and covered environment. Temperature and conductivity are measured 3 times a week. Moisture, pH and microbiological activity are measured weekly. At the end, all parameters of Normative Instruction No. 27/2006, as amended by IN 7/2016 ANNEX V and IN 25/2006 will be quantified, seeking the verification of commercial viability of the product. Preliminary results show that temperatures rapidly reached between 55 and 65°C in practically all treatments, but it has not been possible so far to significantly correlate this parameter with different treatment conditions. In the end, it is expected to provide technical guidance for a simplified carcass composting system.