Poultry pollution

Poultry pollution

Introduction

Poultry farming has been in an increase to meet the high demand for poultry products. The farming has been accompanied by the poultry structures for housing and rearing. Intensification of poultry operations has been evident by the concentration of farming centers. This shifting technology towards poultry farming is driven by the market demand, economies of scale which, are necessitated by innovation. The high demand for both poultry meat and eggs means increased production to meet the demand. Therefore, the intensified poultry farming which is in large scale has an impact on the environment. This requires a thorough assessment of the environmental impacts from the production of the poultry feed, marketing, and waste disposal.

For a clean environment to be attained, there are guidelines in locating poultry structures which should be followed. To site a new poultry farm, it is located 500M away from other poultry farms and other livestock structures. It should also be located 100M away from water course and natural water bodies and 10M from public roads. The structures should be well ventilated to allow air circulation and reduce air pollution through air emissions of bad odor. The collected manure should be protected from water run-off to avoid water contamination. Disposal of solid waste, waste water, and dead birds should be done precisely to curb pollution of the environment affecting the surrounding community (Prabakaran, 2007).

Poultry farming has negative impacts on both local and regional environment. This is through noise pollutions and environmental degradation.  Poor management of poultry farm is the key causes of the environmental pollution. Manure from the poultry house if not well stored, it pollutes the soil and water with nutrients. There are also high traces of heavy metals from the poultry feeds and chemicals for vaccinating the poultry ( Quaddus  &  Woodside, 2015). Poultry farms are dominated by bad odor and flies, rodents. These cause a lot of nuisance to the surrounding environment. The odor is composed of gasses which are pollutants like Ammonia, Hydrogen Sulphide which affect people near the farm site.

Wastewater generated in the poultry farms is supposed to be contained in settling tanks and then discharged to soak pits with the premises of the farm site. The residents who live in the proximities of the poultry facilities experience a high number of flies and mosquitoes. These create a vulnerable environment in creating nuisance and transmission of diseases such as typhoid, malaria, and cholera. Arguably water sources near the poultry facilities are highly polluted by the pesticides for controlling pests near the farms (Prabakaran, 2007). The chemicals affect groundwater and surface run-off which become detrimental to human health and animals. In some instances, the dead carcasses of the dead poultry are poorly disposed of and affect waters bodies when are carried by floods.

For proper management of waste at poultry facilities it is important that manure, runoff and nutrient management needs to be controlled. In this way, waste management system should have the collection point of the waste, storage and then final distribution.  Direct discharges to the water body or the environment are not permitted by the state law. A poultry facility may contain incinerator for handling the dead poultry or a compost facility. The waste management facility depends on the expertise of the facility owner.  There is an integrated approach to deal with poultry waste management at the source, unlike the traditional method where the animal waste was directly disposed to the cropland. There are several waste categories; dry and liquid waste management strategies. The dry waste should be kept away from west services.  Quaddus & Woodside, 2015 argue that when the dry waste comes into contact with water the nutrients and chemicals may be washed to the nearby water bodies or the nutrients can be leached underground. The dry waste storage facility should have the following conditions; concrete or impermeable base, well ventilated and roofed to prevent rainwater and enough capacity for holding the waste until disposal time. The dry waste can be stored in the dry stack storage and or Floor storage (Prabakaran, 2007).

Some poultry species like Ducks and Geese are handled with water and therefore there is lots of liquid waste production. For the liquid waste management systems, waste collection and storage is combining together in settling pits ponds and or treatment lagoons. These ponds need to be emptied quickly when they get full. Designing of these storage facilities need to be in good condition to avoid leakages contaminating ground water. The liquid waste is treated through anaerobic and aerobic Lagoons. After the treatment, the waste is ready for disposal either to the land or water bodies if it has the required impurity limits (Cestti, Srivastava & Jung, 2009). The poultry manure can also be composited before disposal to the farm land. There are different methods of compositing. They include; passive, windrows, aerated piles, and in-vessel composting.

Prabakaran (2007), states that passive composting is cost efficient. This is because the composite materials are stacked together into piles. The waste is left to decompose naturally and therefore makes the method suitable for poultry facility producing large quantities of litter. This is the best method in low-temperature countries because deposition occurs at a slow rate. Windrow composting is applicable for long narrow piles. The deposition of the waste depends on the temperature and oxygen availability. In the use of in-vessel composting, the waste is put into bins to allow the controlling of aeration, temperature, and mixing. This method combines aeration and turning the waste. In composting of waste, there are things to consider; speed, labor, and cost are very crucial for selecting the composting method.

In addition to the composting of the waste, there are other issues which need to be considered in poultry farming. There are significant environmental issues resulting from in the whole process of poultry farming. Cestti, Srivastava & Jung, (2009) argues that there is feeding, treatment and pest control, waste production, management and the marketing of the mature poultry. During marketing of the mature poultry, they are slaughtered and their waste has a very significant effect on the environment. For the meat to meet the quality standards of processed food, it involves a lot of water usage. This results in high quantities of waste water generation. The waste from the slaughterhouse containing blood and fat, flesh and animal excretes have high chemical and biochemical oxygen demand.

The waste water also may contain traces of chlorine for disinfection and some pathogens from the meat, nitrogen in the waste may lead to eutrophication of the water bodies the waste is being discharged. Therefore poultry farming is not confined in one area because it affects everyone and thus it becomes a global issue. The impacts of the pollution from the poultry farming become an issue of global concern. This is because the waste produced affects the environment where everyone lives (Quaddus & Woodside, 2015). The emission of gasses from the poultry facilities such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen Sulphide and nitrogen oxides all are known as greenhouse gasses. These gasses are known to deplete the ozone layer which in turn allows the ultraviolet rays to reach the earth service but the same gasses causing global warming.

A case study of poultry farming in Nigeria, Africa examined the waste management and profit efficiency.  From the study, 76.36% of the respondents of the study did not treat the poultry waste before disposal thus polluting the environment. 63.9% shows that the poultry waste was not useful and therefore it was just disposed of. The poultry farming in Nigeria according to the study showed that the farming cut across all ages and sex.  According to Onu, Offor, & Okpara, (2015) training on waste management and rearing practices is very important. The study indicated that there should be effective monitoring to ensure farmers are sensitized on environmental pollution and disease outbreaks as a result of poultry farming.

In another case study in china where is intensive poultry farming, there is a high concern for depletion of natural resources, environmental degradation, and pollution. In this case, there is an integrated approach to poultry farming. The farming is environmentally friendly, with no use of the pesticide. There is also bio-digester to make renewable energy from the waste (Pickett & Lewis-Brown, 2013). The chicken feed from grass and maize in a free range. The waste is use for biogas production and finally manure.

In conclusion, the two case studies; China and Nigeria there are distinct approaches to the poultry farming. In Nigeria the poultry was is disposed to the environment causing pollution and incidences of diseases while in China the chicken waste is indigested to generate biogas and the sludge is used as fertilizer for growing of maize and Alfalfa which is used as feed for the poultry.

References

Cestti, R., Srivastava, J., & Jung, S. (2009). Agriculture non-point source pollution control: Good             management practices: the Chesapeake Bay experience. Washington, D.C: The World       Bank.

Onu, B., Offor, E., & Okpara, B. (2015). Poultry wastes management strategies and          environmental implications in Abia State. Interesjournals.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017,             from http://www.interesjournals.org/full-articles/poultry-wastes-management-strategies-         and-environmental-implications-in-abia-state.pdf?view=inline

PIckett, H., & Lewis-Brown, E. (2013). China Chicken case study. Compassion in World             Farming. Retrieved 12 April 2017, from https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3818895/china-           chicken-case-study.pdf

Prabakaran, R. (2007). Good practices in planning and management of integrated commercial       poultry production in South Asia. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the      United Nations.

Quaddus, M. A., &  Woodside, A. G. (2015). Sustaining competitive advantage via business        intelligence, knowledge management, and system dynamics: Volume 22B.