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Poultry Manure Handling Page 5 of 7 Heavy turkeys are usually raised for 6 weeks in a brooding pen then moved to a growing pen. Manure handling for the brooding pen is the same as for a chicken broiler pen. Brooding pens are cleaned at the end of each flock. Growing pens are cleaned less often and in some cases once per year. Collection, storage distribution and application of turkey manure is similar to that of other floor reared poultry sys-tems. The large, single-storey barns lend themselves to efficient use of equipment for manure removal. Using two tractors with large spreaders, a large loader and three men, it is possible to load and spread the manure from 2500 sq. ft. of pen area per hour. This rate will be less if it is necessary to load spreaders outside the building. If the manure is to be stored at the time that the barn is cleaned,then a dump trailer,truck or spreader can be used to transfer it to storage. I i Protection of the Environment Poultry manure is a valuable by-product of poultry pro-duction- It must, however, be handled and stored in a manner that will not harm the environment or be a nuisance to others. Consideration must be given to: • odour control • runoff control • prevention of seepage to groundwater There are four avenues to odour control: 1. Adequate distance separation from neighbouring land uses. 2. The choice of dry manure rather than liquid manure. 3. Frequent removal of wet manure from the barn. 4. Covered storage. The best guide to adequate distance separation is the Minimum Distance Separation 11 booklet.When establishing or expanding a poultry operation or planning a new manure storage, contact the local OMAF office for assistance in determining the minimum distance separation (MDS)to neighbouring land uses. All floor-reared poultry are on dry manure systems.This includes chicken broiler barns,turkey barns and breeder flock barns.As well, many caged layer barns and caged replacement pullet barns produce dry manure. The choice of a liquid manure system may be appropriate for a small-to medium-sized caged layer or replacement pullet operation, provided that there is an adequate land base at the site so that the liquid manure can be utilized by the poultry farm on which it is produced.Very large caged layer and replacement pullet operations and those that do not have a land base should choose a dry manure system to avoid problems find-ing a manure utilization co-operator. Most poultry operations remove manure regularly from the barns. Floor-reared poultry operations are cleaned after the flock has been taken out and the barn is empty. Here,the timing of manure removal is dependent on the production cycle. Broiler chicken operations have a short production cycle of 8 weeks so barns are cleaned more frequently than for example turkey barns with a 15-to 20-week cycle.As a result, broiler chicken barns generally produce less odour than turkey barns_ However, as long as the manure is dry,there is little difference between the two. Wet manure is a different story. If left for long periods in the barn, it produces considerable odour which is expelled by the ventilation system into the environment_As well,the gases produced such as ammonia may be harmful to the birds. Wet manure in cage and wire floor barns should be removed every few days to a suitable storage where odour production is limited. The day to day odour level from a manure storage depends upon the moisture content of the manure and http://www.gov.on.ca/om afra/engl i sh/livestoe,k/poultry/facts/93-013.htm 11/14/03