Potential for Ammonia Generation and Emission in Broiler Production Facilities in Brazil

Air quality is one of the main factors that must be guaranteed in animal production. However, the measurement of pollutants is still a problem in several countries because the available methods are costly and do not always apply to the reality of the constructive typology adopted, as in countries with a hot climate, which adopt predominantly open facilities. Thus, the objective of the present study was to develop predictive models for the potential generation and emission of ammonia in the production of broiler chickens with different types of litter, different reuse cycles and under different climatic conditions. Samples of poultry litter from thirty commercial aviaries submitted to different air temperatures were analyzed. The experiment was conducted and analyzed in a completely randomized design, following a factorial scheme. Models were developed to predict the potential for generation and emission of ammonia, which can be applied in facilities with ambient conditions of air temperature between 25 and 40 °C and with wood shaving bed with up to four reuse cycles and coffee husks bed with up to six reuse cycles. The developed and validated models showed high accuracy indicating that they can be used to estimate the potential for ammonia generation and emission.