GOOD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND AMMONIA EMISSIONS IN POULTRY FARMS

Abstract

México is the seventh world producer of chicken meat (more than 3 million tons year^-1). This industry has grown considerably and is the most important one in meat consumption at the national level, where meat and table egg production represent more than 60 % of the national livestock production volume in the country. However, environmental problems stand out among the problems derived from poultry farms, related with the emission of gases and odors, which can affect human and animal health, and natural vegetation, and in turn directly influence the productivity of the farm. Ammonia, gas produced from uric acid hydrolysis with intervention from the urease enzyme, generates various problems in farm productivity and to the environment. Maintaining ammonia levels below 25 mg kg^-1 in poultry production can generate an increase of 26.2 million dollars for said industry in the United States, while with ammonia levels above 50 mg kg^-1, meat production can decrease from 6.4 % to 9 %. Management practices such as: moisture control, temperature, pH of the bed, ventilation, population density, use of additives in the poultry feed, and management of the bed are essential for the control of ammonia emission and the promotion of animal wellbeing.