Tilling Turkey Litter: Obsolete or Essential?

Guest Columnist Helen Wojcinski DVM DVSC ACPV, Wojcinski Poultry Health Consulting LLC

For many turkey growers, a management program that includes regularly tilling litter is a thing of the past. For others, it’s a necessary tool to maintain quality litter. Why the difference? In a recent article surveying turkey flocks across Canada, only 18.5% of farms employed tilling, with the primary litter maintenance strategies being top dressing with new litter (82.7%) and additional heat to prevent caking (32.1%)¹.

Litter is a valuable resource. Consequently, there is nothing worse than kicking the top, wet layer to reveal soft, dry material underneath. These findings prompt growers to till, mixing the wet surface litter with the dry litter below to increase the absorptive capacity of the bedding. Tilling can certainly benefit the flock, but it must be scheduled and executed correctly to prevent challenging the flock during the process. Additionally, it takes time which is a limited commodity  on a turkey farm.

Challenges of Tilling

The most significant flock challenge caused by tilling litter is the release of high levels of ammonia when the wet, ammonia saturated litter is exposed to the air. It is not unusual for ammonia levels to be well over 600 ppm in broiler houses that have been tilled².

Animal welfare guidelines set the limit for ammonia at 25 ppm, but levels as low as 10 ppm also cause damage to the cilia lining the windpipe plus cause generalized immunosuppression—all of which impair the turkey’s ability to fight respiratory disease. Damaged cilia fail to filter out airborne dust, bacteria, feed, and feather particles allowing them to reach the airsacs and cause infection. Consequently, tilling should be planned for a time when weather conditions permit venting of the house during and immediately after. Consideration should also be given to the use of litter amendments to control litter ammonia.

Preparing Equipment

Tilling equipment can be as simple as a rake used in a brooder barn to a garden rototiller to a tractor with specialized attachments. Only clean and disinfected equipment should enter the barn to prevent introducing pathogens (histomonads which cause blackhead, salmonella and other bacteria or a variety of viruses) from another barn or from equipment storage areas that are not wild bird or rodent proof. Time needed to clean and disinfect tilling equipment distracts from other important tasks, but presents a biosecurity risk if not done effectively. Keep in mind that tilling also takes more time if the flock has a lameness issue.

In Place of Tilling

For growers who no longer till, maintaining good litter quality requires that the  variety of factors contributing to wet litter be addressed.

When implemented collectively, the above measures result in drier litter thereby eliminating the need to routinely till litter. However, if economics or other constraining factors do not permit these processes and tilling is essential to maintain litter quality, then attention must be paid to when and how it is done to prevent flock challenges through ammonia release or the introduction of disease agents from tilling equipment.

References

1. Van Staaveren, N., Leishman, E., Adams, S., Wood,B.J, Harlander-Matauschek, A., and C.F. Baes.2020. Housing and Management of Turkey Flocks in Canada. Animals 10 : 1159
2. Ammonia and Moisture : A Costly Relationship. Nov 2018. Jones Hamilton Ag Technical Bulletin.
   joneshamiltonag.com/poultry-solutions/litter-bedding-management/decaking/
3. Fournier, J., Schwean-Lardner, K., Knezacek T.D., Gomis,S. and L. Classen. 2015. The effect of toe trimming on behavior, mobility, toe length and other indicators of welfare in tom turkeys. Poultry Science 94 (7): 1446-1450.