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Quality of different bedding materials and their influence on the compostability of horse manure

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Abstract

The air quality of the stable and management and composting of manure can be improved by choosing bedding material with certain desirable properties. The optimal bedding material doesn't cause hygiene problems in the stable. It absorbs ammonia, is economic in use, and decomposes quickly with manure. The objective of this trial was to compare both quality of different bedding materials and their influence on the composting process of horse manure. Bedding materials used in the study were wood chips, straw, peat, hemp, linen, sawdust, shredded newspaper and the mixtures, peat/wood chips, peat/sawdust, and peat/straw. Peat and peat mixtures had the best quality of ammonia absorption, water holding, and manure fertilization value. The number of fungi and bacteria were lower in shredded newspaper and wooden materials than in straw, linen, hemp, and peat. The composting temperature became high enough for at least a partial destruction of parasites and seeds within the rubbish heaps in all boxes. Only peat manure was ready for further plant production after one month's composting period. Other bedding materials were decomposed only partially or not at all during the study.

Introduction

Problems with stable hygiene may often be linked with bedding material used in the stable. Bedding has effects on indoor air, and the volume and quality of manure removed from the box stall. In Nordic climates, the storage of manure must be done for up to nine months of the year, resulting in high storage and disposal costs. The whole chain of manure to field should be done so that utilization of manure can be environmentally accepted.

Ammonium gas, dust and biological aerosols reduce the quality of indoor air and increase the possibility of respiratory diseases. Bedding is known as a major source of fungal spores along with hay in the stable.1 Straw may contain greater respirable dust than wood shavings, paper,2 and sawdust.3 The ammonia concentration in indoor air depends on the quality and amount4 of bedding material and manure management conditions.5, 6, 7

A good manure management system is hygienic, easy to accomplish technically, economical and without negative environmental effects. Manure should be able to be exploited; for example, as a fertilizer or soil improvement material after treatment and storage. Because of constrains on the storage capacity for manure, the time used for manure treatment and storage should be as short as possible. Bedding materials such as recycled phone book paper, sawdust, and straw have been noticed to decompose poorly during two months' composting process.8 Differences have been found in the process temperatures during composting of dirty phone book paper, sawdust, straw, and wood shavings, which may affect the hygiene of the compost product.8, 9

The purpose of this study was to study how different kinds of bedding materials influence stable hygiene and composting of horse manure.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Ten bedding materials used in the study were, wood chips, straw, sphagnum peat, hemp, linen, sawdust, shredded newspaper and mixtures (3:1), peat/wood chips, peat/sawdust, and peat/straw. Straw used was cut up to 10 cm strips for the mixtures.

The main qualities of ammonia absorption, water holding capacity and hygienic quality of bedding material were studied with wood chips, straw, peat, hemp, linen, sawdust, and shredded newsprint paper. The statistical treatments for the qualities of ammonia

Results and discussion

There were significant differences in ammonia absorption capacity and water holding capacity in studied bedding materials (Table 1b).

. Test statisticsa,b,c in ammonia absorption capacity and water holding capacity

Empty CellRelative ammonia absorption capacity at +17.4°CWater holding capacity
Chi-Square12.85519.498
df66
Asymp. Sig.0.0450.003
Exact Sig.<0.0005<0.0005c
aKruskal-Wallis Test bGrouping variable: Bedding material cBased on 10000 sampled tables with starting seed 2000000.
Peat absorbed all released

Conclusion

The results of this study showed that there are differences between the properties of bedding materials. Air quality in the stable, and utilization of manure can be improved, and emissions to the environment and storage problems can be reduced by selecting a good bedding material.

Peat was found to have the best qualities as ammonia absorbent, water absorbent, and soluble nitrogen container. Cleaning was quickest and easiest when the bedding material was peat, peat mixture, or hemp. The

Acknowledgements

The authors are most grateful for the support during this work given by the Horse College of Kiuruvesi and professor Pekka Mäenpää from the University of Kuopio.

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