In addition, fungi that produce mycoses or mycotoxicoses have been isolated in broiler litter, and there is some evidence that these may cause mortality when flocks are reared on re-used litter. Parasites, such as round worms, tapeworms and coccidia, are also a potential problem in re-used litter. Wet litter further aggravates coccidiosis by providing the proper environment for oocysts to sporulate, thereby increasing challenge levels. The costs of poor litter conditions to broiler producers are estimated in Table 2. Obviously, these costs are rough approximations, but they have been made very conservative to avoid overestimation.
Actual losses are likely to be much greater.
Growers and integrators share the economic losses outlined here. No attempt has been made to separate the costs between the two. Estimated costs associated with poor litter conditions, for a flock of 20,000 birds. When litter conditions deteriorate, ammonia is always a problem. Admittedly, this is difficult to estimate, but it is potentially the most costly.