Litter management and evaluation of poultry waste in poultry farms in Bingol and Elazig provinces

This study was conducted to investigate the litter management and utilization of poultry waste in broiler and layer farms operating in the provinces of Bingöl and Elazığ. For this purpose, face-to-face surveys were conducted with the owners of 183 farms, 167 of which are broilers and 16 of which are layer farms, operating in these provinces. The average land size of the surveyed layer farms was determined to be 43.438 da. It was determined that the cage system is generally used in egg-laying farms (75%), free-range systems are used in 18.8%, and floor systems with litter are used in 6.2%. It has been determined that the chicken capacity in egg-laying enterprises varies between 5000-320000 pieces and the average of the enterprise is 103.068.75 pieces. The number of chickens per coop in the farms was determined to be 36975. It was observed that the pure manure produced in the cage system is generally collected in storage (68.75%). The farm owners explained that they generally sell the pure manure to companies that process chicken manure or to those who want to use it as fertilizer. The average capacity in broiler farms was determined to be 33.906.25 chickens. The annual turnover is generally six (66.4%), and the average time between turns is 15.42 days. 94.1% of farm owners regularly check the litter throughout the fattening period. 52.6% of farm owners stated that they cannot economically utilize the litter material and manure they obtain. While 42.1% of the businesses disinfect the litter when they use it more than once, 57.9% use it without disinfecting because they use anticoccidial. 53.3% of farms that reused litter reported an increase in disease. Consequently, it was determined that poultry farms operating in Bingöl and Elazig had some significant deficiencies and incorrect practices regarding litter management and utilization of poultry waste.