Conclusions

Poultry litter piles that are simply stacked, not turned or aerated do not appear to allow the survival of pathogenic bacteria Campylobacter, E. coli or Salmonella for more than a few days. This agrees with the time and temperature requirements for 100% die-off of Salmonella from sewage sludge and septic tanks, published by Watershed Science Institute-(Tech Note 2, Feb, 2000, p 27) where die-off was approximately 24 h at 50 C (122 F) and approximately 3 days at 40 C (104 F). The information from this study should be useful to poultry growers that wish to develop on-farm, good management practices for microbial safety of stacked poultry litter. In addition, this information can be used as a marketing tool for producers supplying litter for crop application and could be invaluable in guiding the formulation or revision of regulatory policies for agricultural use of poultry litter.