| In-Vessel
Composting of Separated Hatchery Waste |
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| In-Vessel
Composting of Separated Hatchery Waste |
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Don
Cawthon
Department
of Agricultural Sciences
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, Texas
Hatchery waste is the result of broken and/or unhatched eggs at facilities designed to produce young chicks for stocking broiler production houses. The waste consists of unhatched chicks, membranes, embryonic fluids and egg shell.
One disposal option for this waste product involves the loading and transport of the material to a facility that separates the liquids from the solids using centrifugal force. The liquid is refrigerated and transported by tanker truck to a pet food manufacturing plant. The solids (chicks, membranes, egg shell) are landfilled.
This project evaluated the capability of in-vessel composting techniques
to decompose and stabilize the separated waste material obtained from a
centrifugal seperator. The waste was collected in an open-topped
tank in Pittsburg, Texas and transported to Texas A&M University-Commerce
for mixing and loading into research-size in-vessel
composters. Hatchery waste was composted with either wood
products or poultry litter as the bulking
agents.
Composting using wood products as the bulking agent:
Wood products were used to serve as absorbents
and bulking agents as outlined in the table below:
| Volume of | Volume of |
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Temperatures of the above blends during the composting process can be
seen here.
Following is the nutritional content of the compost from the 2:1 blend
when analyzed as a soil and as a tissue.
| Soil Test | Tissue & Forage Test |
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Composting using poultry litter as the bulking agent:
Poultry litter was used
to serve as an absorbent and bulking agent as outlined in the table below:
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Temperatures of the above blends during the composting process can be seen here.
Following is the nutritional content of the compost from the 2:1 blend
when analyzed as a soil and as a tissue.
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