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Animal mortalities

Animal mortalities. Amount of animal mortalities Broilers (100 lb/1000 broilers) =10 tons/flock Turkeys (500 lb/1000 turkeys) (650,000 tons in US) Swine (40 pounds/sow) = 180,000 tons for US Problems with animal mortalities Disease (Biosecurity)

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Animal mortalities

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  1. Animal mortalities • Amount of animal mortalities • Broilers (100 lb/1000 broilers) =10 tons/flock • Turkeys (500 lb/1000 turkeys) (650,000 tons in US) • Swine (40 pounds/sow) = 180,000 tons for US • Problems with animal mortalities • Disease (Biosecurity) • Nutrient and microbial pollution of water resources • Odors • Aesthetic quality • Gives a poor appearance of an operation • Illegal to drag animal out to be consume by scavenegers or to dump into manure pits or lagoons

  2. Disposal methods • Rendering • Animals are picked up, hauled to rendering plant, and treated with heat and steam to produce tankage • Can be used as animal feed • Requires a storage site for pick up • Need to store animals for up to 24 hours • Site should be away from buildings and lots • Site should not be visible from the road • Advantages • Gets dead animal off farm • Recycles nutrients from dead animals • Minimal capital investment unless freezing is required • Low maintenance • Disadvantages • Feeds charged for pick up, if available • Limitations of the use of rendered byproducts as animal feeds • Fears of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Scrapies being transferred • Ruminant byproducts can’t be fed to ruminant animals • Products have variable quality • Dead animals must be stored until pick up • Rendering will have inadequate capacity in case of catastrophic mortalities

  3. Recycling as a feed ingredient • Used for poultry • Dead animals are picked up, transported to processing plant, heat-treated, and ground into a meal • Advantages • Recycles nutrients • Disadvantages • Requires preservation • Freezing • Fermentation • Treatment with phosphoric acid • Requires transportation to processing plant • Requires access to processing plant

  4. Composting • Done in structures, windrows or piles • Needs a hard surface to prevent contamination of groundwater • Requirements for composting • C:N ratio of 20:1 to 400:1 • Straw, chopped corn, wood chips etc. can be added as sources of C • Moisture concentration of 40 – 60% • May have to add water • pH of 6 to 8 • Sufficient oxygen • In manure compost, this is usually obtained by frequent mixing Mortality composts aren’t mixed until late in the degradation process • In mortality composts, oxygen is maintained by layering the dead animals between biomass materials like straw, chopped corn stalks, or wood chips • Stack should be covered with biomass to act as a biofilter • 1 ft for small animals • 2 ft for large animals • Temperature must be greater than 122oF for at least 5 days • Process may be speeded by splitting animals • May be dangerous for workers • Rate • After 2 months, 90% of the tissue from a dairy cow was decomposed • After 7 to 10 months, only bones remained

  5. Advantages of composting • Recycles nutrients • Low odor • Environmentally safe • No need to store mortalities • Low long-term costs • May be used to handle catastrophic mortalities • Disadvantages of composting • High initial cost • Labor intensive • Requires monitoring and maintenance • Cropland is required for application of compost • Must be part of the Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan • Not effective at destroying the prions associated with Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies like BSE or Scrapies

  6. Burial • Animals placed in pit and covered with soil • Iowa requirements • Depth • No deeper than 6 feet with a minimum of 30 inches of soil cover • Depth must be at least 2 feet above the highest water table • Site • Must not create a public health hazard • Soil must have moderate to slow permeability No permeable soils or fractured bedrock No poorly drained soils • Must be no evidence of seasonal high water tables • Must be outside the 100 year flood plain • Must be: 100 feet from a private well 200 feet from a public well 50 feet from a property line 500 feet from a residence 100 feet from a stream, lake or pond • Maximum buried/acre/year • 44 hogs • 7 growing-finishing cattle • 73 sheep • 400 poultry

  7. Advantages of burial • Capital investment limited to land and excavating equipment • Disadvantages of burial • Nutrients are wasted • Increases sanitation precautions • Land area may be significant • Can’t be done when soil is frozen or muddy • Requires storage

  8. Incineration • Can be used for small animals • Advantages • Disposes of everything except the ashes • Sanitary, if done properly • Disadvantages • Initial costs • Requires a commercial engineered burner Home-made burners are illegal • Burner must be in a building downwind from livestock facilities and residences • Fuel costs • Equipment maintenance and operation costs • Potential air quality problems • Requires permit • May cause aerial transmission of infectious agents • Loss of nutrients • Sanitary landfills • Advantages • Simplicity • No capital investment • No maintenance • Disadvantages • Few landfills allow it • Most in Iowa do, but must check • Disposal charges • Transportation costs and regulations

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