Ammonia and carbon dioxide emissions from a laying hen house under summer conditions in Bursa region of Turkey

Abstract

Egg production farms in Turkey are currently more intensive than in past years. The intensive egg production may have some negative environmental effects on air, soil and water and induce some health problems for workers and animals. This study aimed to determine the NH3 and CO2 emission rates from layer houses in the Bursa region in the west part of Turkey. The environmental conditions and NH3 and CO2 concentration were simultaneously measured in 24 h for five consecutive days at the beginning, middle period and end of four summer months in 2013. During the study period, the exhaust temperature varied from 16.80 degrees C to 34.71 degrees C, whereas the relative humidity was 34.60-86.18%. The hourly variation of the exhaust and ambient environmental conditions was observed. The average hourly mean NH3 and CO2 concentrations were 9.9 ppm and 732 ppm, respectively. The exhaust NH3 concentrations did not show clear diurnal variations. The hen-specific emission rates (fully occupied and active) were 0.25 +/- 0.23 g d(-1) hen(-1) for NH3 and 70 g d(-1) hen(-1) for CO2. For NH3 and CO2 emission rates, the daily and hourly variations were relatively stable during the monitoring period. The ambient and exhaust air velocity, exhaust temperature and relative humidity have statistically significant effects on only the hen-specific CO2 emission rates.