Litter Management

This section was contributed by Dr. Roger the Chicken Doctor (+256 779 515350)

Litter quality is very key in poultry keeping. The absence of litter or having caked litter will result into a number of problems which many farmers avoid by regularly change litter throughout the cycle of the flock to maintain quality.

Did you know that total change of litter is bad to your birds ?

Everytime a flock is presented to a totally different litter environment, it distabilizes the balance between the environmental microbial organisms and those in the body of the birds which will at the end cause unfavorable health reactions.

In cases of litter change especially when it's not due to an outbreak ,it's better your mix at least 20% of old litter with 80% of the new litter. The point is having part of the old litter meaning you never empty the house fully.

How does litter caking occur?

Caking originates from accumulation of high moisture in the chicken house.

The sources of moisture are usually from the process of filling the drinkers (usually manual), dripping as birds drink, leakages from the drinkers as well as chicken droppings.

This moisture usually evapourates however, overstocking of birds leading to more droppings, poor ventilation reducing the rate of evapouration and not regularly raking the litter to expose the moisture to the air, reduce the evapouration leading to accumulation.

When this moisture cannot escape or evapourate fast enough then the moisture accumulates. This accumulation leads to lumps of litter/food/droppings being created like pieces of cake

Litter Removal

Litter removal is an important activity, which has to be done regularly and continously, where by caked areas of the litter are removed and replaced by good litter usually when birds are busy especially during feeding time. The litter removal and replacement also have to be done carefully to reduce stress on the birds, reduce dust which can increase possibility of flu and cough, and reduce on the ammonia released from the caked litter that can affect the birds