Chemical characteristics of and methane production from turkey manure

Manure samples were collected from the range and brooding houses of two typical turkey farms during the spring, summer, and fall periods of 1980. The samples were analyzed for constituents pertinent to plant fertilizer value, pollution control, and methane gas fermentation. Data from batch-fed digesters, operating at 35 C, indicate that methane gas production from fresh turkey range manure was slightly higher than that from fresh layer chicken manure but that gas production from turkey brooding house manure, which contained wood shavings, was substantially lower. Continuously-fed, laboratory size digesters were operated for 125 days on laying chicken and turkey range manures with a retention time of 15 days and loading rates of 2, 3, and 4 kg VS/cubic meters day. Best performance occurred at the higher loading rates with gas productions of 1.71 and 2.13 gas digester (v/v) per day for chicken and turkey manures, respectively. The volatile solids breakdowns were 56 and 66%, respectively. (Refs. 17).