Composting Manure in Layer
Houses Transforms Problem to Product
Egg production is on the rise in the West,
particularly in Utah, where the number of
laying hens reached 3.6 million in 1999.
While the product is welcomed, the byproduct—manure—can
be problematic, especially as Utah’s
non-farming population grows. Spurred by
one of the state’s largest egg producers,
who received a SARE farmer/ grower grant
to better manage manure, researchers and
extension educators at Utah State University
(USU) began studying how to compost manure
inside layer houses. That process, which
turns chicken manure into a valuable, almost
odorless soil amendment, is better for egg
producers than land-spreading raw manure. “Not
only are farmers running into a lack of land
to spread manure, but odor and fly complaints
are starting,” said project leader
Rich Koenig, a former USU soils specialist.
Koenig, along with USU Extension County
Agent Dean Miner, began studying in-house
composting at the urging of Spanish Fork,
Utah, producer Mike Shepherd. Shepherd’s
Eggs, a 60-year family operation with 325,000
layers, was seeking to placate new neighbors
and comply with environmental regulations
about manure. “Our initial experiences
with indoor composting show great promise
for reductions in odor and flies,” Shepherd
said. The composted manure became a value-added
product he distributed to farmers and others.
Successful in-house composting requires
a recipe, with the nitrogen from poultry
manure balanced by carbon supplied by straw,
sawdust, or wood chips. Following Koenig’s
research, project leaders recommended a mix
of straw to manure to generate enough heat
to both compost the material and kill flies.
If they turned their windrows two to three
times a week, egg producers could collect
material for up to three months, helping
them through the winter when there is no
market for compost.
Reducing flies translated to a savings
of $15,000 in pesticide use over nine months.
Moreover, producers could sell compost for
about $15 a cubic yard. Those savings and
the extra income offset the costs of new
compost turners and other equipment in about
three years, said Miner, who was Shepherd’s
adviser on his SARE farmer/rancher grant.
Challenges remain, including avoiding dangerous
ammonia buildup inside the layer house. One
option is better ventilation; another is
to apply aluminum sulfate to acidify the
manure. Meanwhile, egg producers have adopted
the new manure management strategy—three
in Utah and others in Idaho and Arizona. “Within
Utah, those egg producers are a tight-knit
group and they communicate with one another,” Koenig
said.
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