These figures are for broilers only and do not include turkeys and laying chickens. Poultry litter is a combination of the bedding material and the manure. The bedding material may include rice hulls, sawdust, wood shavings, shredded paper or a combination of two or more of these materials. The average chemical composition of poultry litter is listed in Table 1 on the next page.
Poultry production generates large volumes of litter.
Research has demonstrated that this material has a very beneficial use as a soil amendment on precision graded soils where reduced rice productivity is a problem. Rate of Poultry Litter Application Several research experiments have been conducted to determine the amount of poultry litter required to increase rice yields. Accounting for the moisture content of the material is important since this recommendation is made on a dry-weight basis. Thus, if the moisture content of the material is 25 percent, then 1,000 lbs of the fresh material actually contains 250 lbs of water and 750 lbs of dry material. The source of poultry litter is also very critical.