Winter vs Summer: Differences in Poultry Litter Management
Poultry litter management does have its constants, but like many things, there is a seasonality to certain aspects. Here are three ways you should consider shifting gears for the upcoming change of seasons.
| WINTER | SUMMER | |
|---|---|---|
| LITTER DEPTH | Keep a deeper litter bed. During cold weather, keeping houses closed and maintaining a litter depth of about 6 inches will: • Retain more moisture in litter and away from the birds • Insulate young birds from the cold floor | More ventilation, less depth. When you pull so much air through the house to keep birds cool, you’re also more easily drying out litter. At higher temperatures and higher ventilation, a litter depth of about 4 inches is sufficient. |
| VENTILATION | Ventilate to remove moisture. Winter ventilation is a balance between swapping air for the right oxygen to carbon dioxide ratio without removing valuable heat, and managing litter moisture. A careful focus on ventilation during the brood period will work to keep excess moisture from building throughout the flock. In ideal conditions, the cold, damp outside air enters the house at a high rate of speed and goes to the apex of the ceiling where is mixes with the hot air. Combined, the air temperature increases and humidity decreases before circulating down to the floor and birds. Without good static pressure and clean vent openings, cold air will instead come into the house and fall straight to the floor, depositing excess moisture in the litter. | Ventilate to keep birds cool. The summer ventilation standard is to pull air directly across the top of the birds for convection cooling. The fast-moving air pulls heat off the birds while reducing humidity and removing moisture. This process works to easily dry litter. |
| PRE-HEAT | Ventilate to remove moisture. Winter ventilation is a balance between swapping air for the right oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio without removing valuable heat, and managing litter moisture. A careful focus on ventilation during the brood period will work to keep excess moisture from building throughout the flock. In ideal conditions, the cold, damp outside air enters the house at a high rate of speed and goes to the apex of the ceiling where is mixes with the hot air. Combined, the air temperature increases and humidity decreases before circulating down to the floor and birds. Without good static pressure and clean vent openings, cold air will instead come into the house and fall straight to the floor, depositing excess moisture in the litter. | Less pre-heat time needed, keep end doors closed! High outside temperatures often require less pre-heating time, but 24 hours is still needed to purge ammonia and prepare for chicks. Keeping end doors open during the summer heat is not an effective way to reduce ammonia and will actually cause the loss of valuable heat from the previous flock. |
Applying PLT at a sufficient rate for your ammonia challenge and for pH reduction is one year-round standard. PLT is an EPA Safer Choice product that can be applied anytime.