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Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol

Fate of nitrogen during composting of chicken litter

S.M. Tiquiaa,*, N.F.Y. Tamb
a

Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC),
The Ohio State University, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
b
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
Received 16 August 1999; accepted 19 August 1999

``Capsule'': Composting reduced the value of chicken litter as a N fertilizer.

Abstract
Chicken litter (a mixture of chicken manure, wood shavings, waste feed, and feathers) was composted in forced-aeration piles to
understand the changes and losses of nitrogen (N) during composting. During the composting process, the chemical [dierent N
fractions, organic matter (OM), organic carbon (C), and C:N ratio], physical, and microbial properties of the chicken litter were
examined. Cumulative losses and mass balances of N and organic matter were also quantied to determine actual losses during
composting. The changes in total N concentration of the chicken litter piles were essentially equal to those of the organic N. The
inorganic N concentrations were low, and that organic N was the major nitrogenous constituent. The ammonium (NH+
4 )-N concentration decreased dramatically during rst 35 days of composting. However, the rapid decrease in NH+
4 -N during composting

did not coincide with a rapid increase in (NO

3 +NO2 )-N concentration. The concentration of (NO3 +NO2 )-N was very low (<0.5
1
g kg ) at day 0, and this level remained unchanged during the rst 35 days of composting suggesting that N was lost during
composting. Losses of N in this composting process were governed mainly by volatilization of ammonia (NH3) as the pile temperatures were high and the pH values were above 7. The narrow C:N ratio (<20:1) have also contributed to losses of N in the
chicken litter. The OM and total organic C mass decreased with composting time. About 42 kg of the organic C was converted to
CO2. On the other hand, 18 kg was lost during composting. This loss was more than half (59%) of the initial N mass of the piles.
Such a nding demonstrates that composting reduced the value of the chicken litter as N fertilizer. However, the composted chicken
contained a more humied (stabilized) OM compared with the uncomposted chicken litter, which would enhance its value as a soil
conditioner. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Composting; Nitrogen; Nitrication; Denitrication; Organic matter loss

1. Introduction
Chicken litter is a mixture of excreta, wood shavings,
wastes feed, and feathers which is removed from poultry houses, and can be applied to soil as an amendment.
Composting of this litter prior to application as a
fertilizer is recommended to control the spread of
pathogens, minimize the production of phytotoxic substances, improve storage and handling, and reduce
unpleasant odors (Edwards and Daniel, 1992; Hansen
et al., 1993; Tiquia and Tam, 1998a). Composting is
also an eective and inexpensive means of stabilizing
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-330-263-3866; fax: +1-330-2633634.
E-mail address: [email protected] (S.M. Tiquia).

organic matter (OM; Golueke, 1977). However, the

composting changes the nature of the waste and can
aect its usefulness as a soil amendment. For instance,
composting may aect nitrogen (N) transformations
such as N mineralization, ammonia (NH3) volatilization, nitrication, and denitrication. N mineralization
is of extreme importance because it converts organic N
into ammonium (NH+
4 ). NH3 volatilization and denitrication may lead to signicant losses of N (Martins
and Dewes, 1992; Bernal et al., 1996). Such a loss will
aect the agronomic quality of the composted product.
These losses during composting of animal manure
range from 21% upward to 77% (Martins and Dewes,
1992; Rao Bhamidimarri and Pandey, 1996). N losses
vary depending on several environmental factors such
as aeration, moisture content, and temperature (Bishop

0269-7491/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0269-7491(99)00319-X

536

S.M. Tiquia, N.F.Y. Tam / Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

and Godfrey, 1983). The carbon (C):N ratio of the initial

composting material has also been reported to aect
losses of N during composting (de Bertoldi et al., 1980,
1985; Bishop and Godfrey, 1983; Witter and LopezReal, 1988). A very narrow C:N ratio can lead to loss of
N through NH3 volatilization (de Bertoldi et al., 1985;
Tam and Tiquia, 1999), especially if the compost piles are
aerated mechanically or turned manually. de Bertoldi et
al. (1983) reported that the N loss was greater with turning (18% N loss) than with forced aeration (5% N loss).
Such a loss in N would decrease the nutrient value of the
mature compost material.
A considerable body of literature exists concerning
the composting facilities (Elwell et al., 1998; Tiquia and
Tam, 1998b), physical operation of chicken litter (Raviv
et al., 1999; Wan et al., 1999), and mineralization of
nutrients in soil (Weinzaepen et al., 1999). Little has
been written, however, concerning the fate of N during
the composting of chicken litter. The nutrient that has
received the most attention in composting systems is N
since it is the most needed element for plant nutrition,
and it has certainly the highest concentration of any
plant nutrient in manures (Bishop and Godfrey, 1983;
Martin and Dewes, 1992; Cooperband and Middleton,
1996; Rao Bhamidimarri and Pandey, 1996). Apart
from N, C is an element that is also most likely to be
lost during the composting process. The present study
therefore aims to: (1) investigate the changes in N
transformation during composting of chicken litter in
forced-aeration piles; (2) determine losses in N and C
during composting; and (3) assess the eects of composting at dierent locations of the forced-aeration
piles.
2. Materials and methods
Chicken litter was collected at the Castle Peak
Chicken Farm, New Territories of Hong Kong, and
stacked in windrows. The water content of the litter was
adjusted to 65% (w/v) at the beginning of composting,
and no further adjustment in water was made throughout the composting process. The chemical properties of
the initial chicken litter material are summarized in
Table 1. Twenty-millimeter diameter polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) pipes were laid at the base of the pile, with perforations (25 mm diameter) facing upward. Three piles
were built on perforated pipes connected to an air
pump. Each pile was triangular in shape, about 2 m in
width at the base and 1.5 m in height. The total weight
of each pile was approximately 2000 kg (fresh wt.). The
distance between each perforation was 20 cm. The pipes
were covered by wood chips to prevent blockage of
the holes, and air was blown to the piles (from bottom
to top of the pile) using air pump (Regenair R1102,
Gast Manufacturing Corporation, USA). The air was

Table 1
Chemical properties of the initial chicken litter material
Chemical parameters

Concentration
(dry wt. basis)a

Total N (g kg1)
Organic N (g kg1)
1
NH+
4 -N (g kg )

+NO
)-N
(g kg1)
(NO
3
2
Total P (g kg1)
Total K (g kg1)
Total C (g kg1)
Ash content (g kg1)

33.91.2
22.71.2
10.90.1
0.260.1
16.90.4
20.32.4
491.42.0
1413.4

Total Cu (mg kg1)

Water-extractable Cu (mg kg1)
Total Zn (mg kg1)
Water-extractable Zn (mg kg1)

855.7
160.4
19743
471.3

C:N ratio
pH
Electrical conductivity (dS m1)

14.50.2
8.30.1
5.10.2

Mean and standard deviation of three replicates are shown. Data

are based on 105 C dry weight basis.

pumped continuously at a rate of 634 l min1 during the

entire period of composting. The chicken litter piles
were then topped o with a 5-cm thick layer of mature
compost to insulate the piles, and to act as a biolter to
minimize odors. Chicken litter samples were taken at
four dierent locations in the pile: top (130 cm from the
base of the pile), middle (75 cm from the base of the pile),
bottom (30 cm from the base of the pile), and surface (5
cm from the surface of the pile) at day 0, and then weekly
until the end of the composting process (day 168). A total
of ve subsamples were taken from each location. These
samples were merged together to give one composite
sample. Approximately 1 kg sample was collected from
each of the four locations of each pile.
The chicken litter was analyzed for the following
parameters: water content (105 C for 24 h); pH (1:10
w/v litter:water extract) using a pH electrode; electrical
conductivity (1:5 w/v litter:water extract) using a conductivity electrode; OM and ash content (550 C for 5 h)
(loss on ignition) (Allison, 1965); total P (acid digest)
using the ascorbic acid method (APHA, 1995); total K
(acid digest) (atomic absorption spectrophotometry)
(APHA, 1995); total (acid digest), and water-extractable
(1:10 w/v litter:water extract) Cu and Zn (atomic
absorption spectrophotometry) (APHA, 1995); Kjeldahl

N (Bremner, 1996); NH+

4 -N and (NO3 +NO2 )-N using
the KCL extraction method (Mulvaney, 1996); and
denitrifying bacterial population by inoculation of
tubed liquid media using the Most Probable Number
(MPN) method (Alexander, 1982).
The OM concentration of the chicken litter was computed from the ash content [1ash content(1000)].
On the other hand, the total organic C was estimated

S.M. Tiquia, N.F.Y. Tam / Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

from the OM value using the conventional ``Van Bemmelem Factor'' of 1.724. This factor is based on the
assumption that soil OM contains 58% C (Allison,
1965). The theoretical total N concentration of the
chicken litter was calculated by adding the Kjeldahl N

whereas the organic

with the (NO
3 +NO2 )-N,
N concentration was derived by subtracting the
NH+
4 -N from the Kjeldahl N. The C:N ratio was then
computed based on the concentration of total organic
C and N.
Quantitative estimation of NH4 and nitrite oxidizing
bacteria were assayed using the plate frequency technique (Tiquia and Tam, 1998a, b; Tiquia et al., 1998).
This technique involves inoculating 0.1 ml of the serially
diluted spent litter suspension on the eight sections of
the agar plate. Observation of bacterial colonies in
any of the eight sections was considered positive
growth. The total number of positive growths was
counted, and the population size of microorganisms in
the sample was estimated using an MPN computing
package (Tam, 1982).
The mean and standard deviation of the three replicates were reported for all parameters measured. To
compare the variations in composting at dierent locations of the forced-aeration piles, one way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) statistical testing was performed.
Subsequently, the means of the physical, microbial and
chemical parameters at four locations (top, middle bottom and surface) of the chicken litter piles were compared using the Bonferroni test. All statistical analyses
were based on the procedures described by Zar (1996).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Eects of composting at dierent locations of the
forced-aeration piles
The forced-aeration composting method has been
developed in the present study to reduce the labor cost
and space requirement for windrow composting (turning method). Under the forced-aeration composting
system, the eciency of composting at dierent locations may be dierent due to variations in aeration
levels. This result might aect the eciency of composting, and the changes in N during the composting
process. Results of the ANOVA test revealed that
composting at dierent locations of the forced-aeration
piles was similar in terms of the water content (Fig. 1a),
chemical (Figs. 1b, 2, and 3), and microbial (Fig. 4)
properties, with the exception of temperature (Fig. 5).
The peak temperatures occurred in the middle (63 C)
and bottom (58 C) part were signicantly higher than
those recorded in the top (54 C) and surface (48 C)
location of the forced-aeration piles. The low top and
surface temperature could be attributed to the excess

537

Fig. 1. Changes in (a) water content, and (b) pH of the chicken litter
piles during a 168-day composting process. Mean and standard
deviation are shown. Moisture content (P=0.97, ns); pH, (P=0.77
ns); ns, not signicant.

loss of heat since this location was closer to the ambient

air than the other two locations (middle, and bottom).
Dierences in temperature suggest that aeration varied
at dierent locations of the forced-aeration piles. The
air diusion, oxygen availability, and redox potential
should be measured in the future studies for a better
understanding of composting at dierent locations of
the chicken litter piles. Despite these dierences, the
time required for the temperature to return to that of
ambient air was similar for all four locations (126 days)
(Fig. 5).
3.2. Nitrogen dynamics
The changes in total N concentration of the chicken
litter piles were essentially equal to those of the organic
N (Fig. 2a, b). This result relates to the facts that the
inorganic N concentrations (Fig. 2c, d) were low, and
that organic N was the major nitrogenous constituent.
At day 49, the organic N increased in all four locations
of the forced-aeration piles (Fig. 2b). This increase in
organic N can be attributed to a concentration eect as
a consequence of strong degradation of organic C compounds (Fig. 3a), which reduced the weight of the dry
mass (Table 2). At day 49, the organic N decreased in

538

S.M. Tiquia, N.F.Y. Tam / Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

Fig. 2. Changes in concentrations of dierent forms of N of the chicken litter piles during a 168-day composting process. Mean and standard
deviation are shown. Data are expressed on a 105 C dry weight basis. (a) Total N (P=0.88, ns); (b) organic N (P=0.77, ns); (c) NH+
4 -N (P=0.83,

ns); (d) (NO

3 +NO2 )-N (P=0.99, ns); ns, not signicant.

Table 2
Losses and mass balances of nitrogen (N), carbon (C), organic matter (OM), and ash during composting of chicken litter in forced-aeration pilesa
Composting time (days)

0
7
14
21
35
49
63
91
133
168
Balance

Cumulative losses (%)

Mass and balance (kg)

Mass

OM

OM

Organic C

Ash

0
0.9
1
3
4
5
7
5
7
9

0
0.9
1
3
4
5
7
5
7
9

0
21
38
26
41
9
24
38
41
59

31
25
19
23
18
34
24
19
18
13
18

779
772
768
753
750
737
727
739
721
707
73

452
448
446
436
435
428
421
429
419
409
42

141
148
152
167
170
183
193
181
199
213
+73

The balances of N, C, OM, and ash were calculated by subtracting the nal with the initial mass. Mean of the top middle, bottom, and surface
locations are shown. Data are based on 105 C dry weight basis.

the chicken litter piles, due to ammonication of

organic N to NH3.
The NH+
4 -N concentration decreased dramatically
(from around 11.5 to 5.5 g kg1) by day 7, increased
slightly between days 21 and 35, then stabilized at
around 204 g kg1 by the end of composting (Fig. 4c).
The slight increase in NH+
4 -N concentration between

days 21 and 35 could be due to conversion of organic

N to NH+
4 -N via the ammonication process. This
decrease was also followed by a slight increase in
population of NH4 oxidizers (Fig. 4b), and a decrease
in organic N concentration (Fig. 2b) at this stage of
composting. However, the rapid decrease in NH+
4 -N
during composting did not coincide with a rapid

S.M. Tiquia, N.F.Y. Tam / Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

539

at this level until the end of composting. This result

demonstrates that active denitrication only occurred
during the early stages of composting. Once the air
was forced into the chicken litter piles, denitrication
decreased signicantly. Results of this study show that
the loss of N through denitrication was signicant only
during the rst 14 days of composting.
3.3. OM and N losses

Fig. 3. Changes in concentration of (a) total C, and (b) C:N ratio of

the chicken litter piles during a 168-day composting process. Mean
and standard deviation are shown. Data are expressed on a 105 C dry
weight basis. Total C (P=0.76, ns); C:N ratio (P=0.76, ns); ns, not
signicant.

increase in (NO
3 +NO2 )-N concentration. The con
centration of (NO3 +NO
2 )-N was very low (<0.5 g
kg1) at day 0, and this level remained unchanged during
the rst 35 days of composting (Fig. 4d) due to inhibition
by excessive amount of NH3, and high temperature
(Morisaki et al., 1989; Fang et al., 1999). This result
suggests that N was lost during composting. Some of the
NH4 was lost through NH3 volatilization as the pile
temperatures were high (Fig. 5) and the pH values were
above 7.0 (Fig. 1b), giving conditions that favored NH3
volatilization. Bishop and Godfrey (1983) and Witter
and Lopez-Real (1988) also reported that losses of N by
NH3 volatilization were signicant at a pH above 7.0 and

high temperatures (>40 C). Some of the (NO

3 +NO2 )N was lost through microbial denitrication as the
population of denitrifying bacteria was high during the
early stage of composting (Fig. 4d).
The population of denitrifying bacteria was highest at
day 0 (Fig. 4d), indicating the presence of anaerobic
pockets in the chicken litter piles. However, as composting progressed, their numbers decreased to around
5.05.5 log10 MPN g1 by day 21 and were maintained

To reveal the actual loss in the chicken litter piles,

mass and balances as well as cumulative dry mass, OM,
and N losses were calculated during the composting
period (Table 2). The OM loss in the chicken litter piles
was only 9% of the initial OM. This OM loss was similar to that found by Fang et al. (1999) during composting of sewage sludge. The mass of OM and total organic
C also decreased with composting time (Table 2). The
decrease synchronized with an increase in mass ash of
the chicken litter piles. About 42 kg of the organic C
was converted to CO2 (Table 2). This loss is about 9%
of the initial total OM, which is relatively low compared
to the results in the literature (Benedict et al., 1988;
Fang et al. 1999). It could be that the chicken litter
contained little degradable OM.
The total N in the compost mass (concentration
mass of the pile) dropped from 31 to 13 kg during the
entire period of composting (Table 2). This loss was
about 59% of the initial N mass of the piles and is
comparable to losses reported on composting of animal
manure (2177%) (Martins and Dewes, 1992; Rao
Bhamidimarri and Pandey, 1996). In this composting
experiment, losses of N can be attributed largely to
NH3 volatilization. It has been noted that the properties of the initial material, in particular, the C:N ratio,
and the composting conditions such as aeration,
moisture content, and temperature are aected by the
degree of N loss (Bishop and Godfrey, 1983). The
initial C:N ratio was very narrow (<20:1) at the
beginning of composting (Fig. 3b). This narrow C:N
ratio could have also contributed to losses of N in the
chicken litter via NH3 volatilization. As composting
proceeded, the C:N ratio of the chicken litter increased.
Increases in C:N ratio had been reported also during
composting of sewage sludge (Morisaki et al., 1989)
in which increasing C:N values occurred during
composting due to vigorous NH3 volatilization. However, the addition of a bulking agent (rice husks) in
their study reduced the loss of NH3. The addition of
bulking agent (i.e. yard trimmings, woodchips, rice
husks) to the chicken litter might help reduce the loss
of N. Wan et al. (1999) co-composted the chicken litter
with yard trimmings in forced-aeration piles. Their
research demonstrated that N loss was reduced signicantly when yard trimmings was added to the
chicken manure. In their study, the N loss was >15%

540

S.M. Tiquia, N.F.Y. Tam / Environmental Pollution 110 (2000) 535541

Fig. 4. Changes in the microbial population sizes of the chicken litter during a 168-day composting process. Mean and standard deviation are
shown. (a) Total aerobic heterotrophs (P=0.61, ns); (b) ammonium oxidizers (P=0.72, ns); (c) nitrite oxidizers (P=0.56, ns); (d) denitrifying bacteria (P=0.90, ns); ns, not signicant. MPN, most probable number.

in all piles. A recent study by Raviv et al. (1999)

showed that addition of 5% (on a dry wt. basis) of
squeezed grapefruit peels lowered the pH (around 5.8
6.6), and consequently increased the amount of conserved N in chicken manure by 80%.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. Alex Chan of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Hong Kong Government, and his sta for allowing this composting trial
to be carried out at the Ta Kwu Ling Pig Breeding
Centre, and their assistance in eld sampling. This work
was nancially supported by the Central Matching
Fund of the City University of Hong Kong.
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