Reduction of dietary crude protein and feed form: Impact on broiler litter quality, ammonia concentrations, excreta composition, performance, welfare, and meat quality.

Nitrogen (N) excreted by poultry is converted to ammonia (NH), presenting an environmental risk and a health risk to the farmer and animals. A study was performed to investigate the effect of reduced CP and feed form on broiler performance and welfare, meat and litter quality, N utilization, and NH concentrations at litter level. A total of 2,232 Ross 308 male broilers was divided into 6 treatments and 6 replicates, which was fed diets in both pellet and mash forms with different CP levels of 205.

Associations of barn air quality parameters with ultrasonographic lung lesions, airway inflammation and infection in group-housed calves.

Barn climate is believed to play a major role in the bovine respiratory disease complex. However, the exact air quality parameters associated with (sub)clinical pneumonia or airway inflammation in calves are currently unknown. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess associations of air quality parameters with clinical signs, lung consolidation, pulmonary inflammation and infection in group-housed calves.

Evaluation of a Cost-Effective Ammonia Monitoring System for Continuous Real-Time Concentration Measurements in a Fattening Pig Barn.

Ammonia (NH) emission is one of the major environmental issues in livestock farming. Gas measurements are required to study the emission process, to establish emission factors, and to assess the efficiency of emission reduction techniques. However, the current methods for acquiring reference measurements of NH are either high in cost or labor intensive.

Long-term microbial community dynamics at two full-scale biotrickling filters treating pig house exhaust air.

In this study, the microbial community structure of two full-scale biotrickling filters treating exhaust air from a pig housing facility were evaluated using 16S metabarcoding. The effect of inoculation with activated sludge of a nearby domestic waste water treatment plant was investigated, which is a cheap procedure and easy to apply in practice. The study was performed at a three-stage and a two-stage full-scale biotrickling filter; of which, only the latter was inoculated.

Reduction of ammonia emissions from dairy cattle cubicle houses via improved management- or design-based strategies: A modeling approach.

Given the current scarcity of empirical data on ammonia (NH) emissions from dairy cattle under different management-based mitigation techniques, a modeling approach to assess potential NH emission reduction factors is needed. This paper introduces a process-based model that estimates NH emission reduction factors for a dairy cattle barn featuring single or multiple management-based NH emission mitigation techniques, as compared to another barn, to which no mitigation measure is applied. The model accounts for the following emission mitigation measures: (a) floor scraping, (b) floor type, (c) floor flushing with water and (d) indoor acidification of manure.

Wind tunnel study of ammonia transfer from a manure pit fitted with a dairy cattle slatted floor.

In dairy cattle systems, most of the feces and urine go to the pit. At the manure pit level, mass transfer of NH3 ([Formula: see text]) has many factors, but practical difficulties hamper a controlled field evaluation. In this study, we propose a methodology for the determination of an alternative, more practical, pit transfer coefficient of NH3 (PTC), and compare it with [Formula: see text] determined from other scientific studies.

Exposure levels of farmers and veterinarians to particulate matter and gases during operational tasks in pig-fattening houses.

The main objective of the study was to assess particulate matter (PM) exposure levels for both the farmer and the veterinarian during different operational tasks in pig-fattening houses, and to estimate their exposure levels on a daily working basis (time-weighted average (TWA)). The measured PM fractions were: inhalable and respirable PM, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1.

Thermodynamics of greenhouse systems for the northern latitudes: analysis, evaluation and prospects for primary energy saving.

In Flanders and the Netherlands greenhouse production systems produce economically important quantities of vegetables, fruit and ornamentals. Indoor environmental control has resulted in high primary energy use. Until now, the research on saving primary energy in greenhouse systems has been mainly based on analysis of energy balances.