A farm-scale study on the use of clinoptilolite zeolite and De-Odorase® for reducing odour and ammonia emissions from broiler houses

Intensive poultry farms are frequently the subject of odour complaints and are also known emitters of ammonia. In this paper an experiment is described which compared the effectiveness of two abatement compounds, clinoptilolite and De-Odorase®, when used in broiler production. Two sites were used which had almost identical buildings, each with two rooms, and the same strain of bird. Clinoptilolite was used on one site and De-Odorase® on the other. Once a week ventilation rate, ammonia concentration and odour concentration were measured, to determine the effects of the additives. We also measured temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide concentration to confirm that the control and test rooms had similar micro-climates. In the room treated with clinoptilolite the ammonia concentration was statistically significantly higher than in the control and the total mass of ammonia emitted was 50% greater. In the De-Odorase® experiment the mean ammonia concentration in the treated room in the final week was 38% lower than in the control and the total mass of ammonia emitted from the treated room was 50% lower. There was no statistically significant reduction in the odour concentration or odour emission rate for either of the additives used.