Within‐House Spatial Distribution of Fecal Indicator Bacteria in Poultry Litter

Abstract

Land application of poultry litter is often considered to be a major source of water pollutants in poultry-producing regions. However, reported levels of fecal indicator microorganisms in litter vary widely, with considerable variation possible within houses and across farms, depending on management practices. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine the levels and distribution of indicator microorganisms within 12 broiler farms representing three companies. Within each house, litter samples were collected from around the feed line, water line, north wall, cool pad end, middle, and fan end. Litter moisture content was significantly different within the houses, with the litter being driest around the feed line (19.8%) and wettest around the water line (40.7%). Mean levels of total coliforms, , enterococci, and were 3.7, 3.3, 6.4, and 4.0 log colony-forming units g dry litter, respectively. Levels of total coliforms, , and were positively correlated with litter moisture content, but enterococci levels were not. Consequently, levels of total coliforms, , and , as well as enterococci, were highest around the water line and lowest around the feed line. These results indicate that areas with higher litter water content are more likely to contain higher levels of most fecal indicator microorganisms. Approaches to reduce litter water content in these areas would not only benefit the microbial quality of litter for land application but would also likely improve in-house disease control.

Dynamics and Diversity of Microbial Contamination in Poultry Bedding Materials Containing Parts of Medicinal Plants

“…The average contamination of examined materials during the mentioned period in our study was 9.73 log CFU/g. As it was previously shown, further exploitation of poultry bedding material results in the further development of total aerobic microbial flora to 8-10.5 log CFU/g [26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. We observed a mean total count of 12-16 log CFU/g in the period of 4-6 weeks of exploitation.…”

“…Even though the microbiological contamination of various used poultry bedding materials has been a subject of several prior studies [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], still little is known about the effects of using parts of different medicinal plants on the microbial contamination in bedding materials containing such parts. Given this background, the objective of our study is to investigate the total count of mesophilic aerobic bacteria, the total count of yeasts and moulds, and the presumptive count of Staphylococcus sp., Escherichia sp., Listeria sp., Salmonella sp., and Candida sp.…”

Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens: Challenges in ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ Broiler Production and Potential Solutions

“…However, lower stocking densities than industry standards did not show any significance in feed conversion, mortality, or BW [214]. Winkler et al found that litter moisture was highest around water lines at 40.7% in tandem with the increased prevalence of E. coli and C. perfringens in the same locations [216]. Areas of higher litter moisture will also contain higher levels of fecal related microorganisms.…”

Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens: Challenges in No Antibiotics Ever Broiler Production and Potential Solutions

“…However, lower stocking densities than industry standards did not show any significance in feed conversion, mortality, or BW [ 213 ]. Winkler et al found that litter moisture was highest around water lines at 40.7% in tandem with the increased prevalence of E. coli and C. perfringens in the same locations [ 215 ]. Areas of higher litter moisture will also contain higher levels of fecal related microorganisms.…”