Developing visual litter management extension resources for meat chicken growers

Summary

Keeping litter in a dry and friable condition is a continuous challenge for meat chicken growers due to various factors that can occur at different times during a grow-out. The importance of litter condition has also been documented for reasons, including welfare, production and shed odour emissions. The factors that contribute to litter quality have been well researched, documented and delivered through a range of national workshops. This project proposes to utilise scientific concepts, workshop material, case studies and research outcomes such as water activity, ventilation and litter reuse, and present it in a number of visual mediums that growers will be able to readily access. The resources package will include a variety of short videos, case studies or animations. It will also include a shed guide to litter. The resources will demonstrate a range of scenarios that are typically encountered by meat chicken growers and provide best management strategies for dealing with litter management, particularly through case studies. These tools will assist in decision making and be a useful resource for training new staff.

Program

Chicken Meat

Research Organisation

The State of Queensland acting through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Objective Summary

Provide a range of visual best practice litter management how-to information tools for meat chicken growers through a series of short videos and a litter shed guide. Demonstrate some key concepts that can have an impact on litter through animation. Demonstrate some strategies other meat chicken growers have implemented to maintain dry and friable litter in different situations.