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y 3 INTRODUCTION easily constructed along each block of the dry yard using a Poultry farmers have developed several schemes that use the tractor scraper and loader. Windrow composting will con- semiarid climate of the interior valleys of California to dry tinue as long as dampness remains in the manure. The water cage-house manure quickly to a level where it is odorless and vapor and gasses of decomposition harmlessly dissipate with does not attract flies. In addition, dried manure becomes an little or no odor. Loading for shipment continues from one easy-to-handle bulk fertilizer for agricultural use or for fur- end of a windrow in an orderly fashion. If a windrow should ther conditioning into a nursery and garden fertilizer. , catch fire from spontaneous heating (not uncommon in slight- ly damp uncompacted manure piles), the fire zone can be Thin-bed drying is an out-of-the-house process of spreading j contained quickly by breaking a gap in the windrow with the moist manure in a thin layer then stirring it daily to dry par- ' tractor loader. ticles rapidly, thereby eliminating refuge for fly larvae or putrefactive bacteria. Drying can be adapted to either solid FACILITY (scraped) or slurry (pumped) manure handling systems but The dry yard is a prepared open area of about 1 acre for solid is favored because less evaporation is needed. Basically each 50,000 hens. It should be convenient to the poultry a dry season process, thin-bed drying is limited in effective- ! houses for efficient cleanout and should be free of rock, ness during wet weather. As a primary manure management ? which ruins equipment and market acceptance of manure fer- process, it has been successful on a year-round basis in most =,' tilizer. Crown, grade, and compact the site for runoff control poultry regions where: and to facilitate the operation of heavy equipment. Long nar- row blocks are favored for easiest management. A grid of ■ rainfall average does not exceed 15 inches striplike blocks separated by truck lanes is the most efficient ■ extended cold damp weather is infrequent layout. Each day fresh manure can be layered in a strip ■ storms are intermittent with more usual sunny weather along a lane, and the partially dried manure is progressively ■ flies are not active during winter months. bladed across the yard into a windrow along the opposite lane. Each day's manure remains an isolated strip so it can Desiccation of immature flies is a primary goal of thin-bed be stirred, bladed, or topped with a fresh wet layer as it drying. Most fly eggs and larvae in fresh droppings dehydrate dries. Dry windrows can remain in place alongside alleys in the dry yard before they emerge as adult flies. Third instar until manure is shipped. larvae in older droppings might complete their growth and crawl to a dry zone to pupate. Fly control, then, depends on EQUIPMENT total daily cleanout in the warm season and getting the A utility tractor with front loader and detachable scraper, a manure dried below 25 percent (wet basis) moisture within tank-type manure spreader, and a peg tooth or ring-type har- about 5 days to break the fly life cycle. Cooler weather slows row are the basic equipment. An intensive operation will the life cycle as well as the rate of natural drying. On-ranch need heavy duty equipment because solar down-time caused experience will quickly establish scraping frequency and other �) by mechanical failures can never be recaptured. Small opera- manure handling schedules for greatest effectiveness. tions with excess dry yard might use salvaged equipment since breakdowns are little more than inconveniences while The steep-sided windrow, an ideal open storage form in low repairs or substitutions are arranged. rainfall areas, effectively sheds rain through a typical storm ower take off (PTO) driven so the should be spreader and exposes the least surface area, thereby reducing heat The I p p loss, which is essential for composting. A windrow is J beaters, spinner, or flails can be operated at full speed regardless of forward speed to deliver small uniform globs i