Project PSR: Gas Free Hens

The main target of the “Gas Free Hens” Project is the promotion of Best Practices for the decrease of ammonia and greenhouse gases emissions in agricultural production processes (hens farming in particular) by means of the manure quick dryng. The emissions decrease is also related with the mitigation of the environmental impact caused by the odorous compounds, improving the environmental and social sustainability of breeding farms. The Project’s goal is to quantify the decrease of ammonia emissions that could be obtained in some innovative typologies of non-cage systems for laying hens: the aviary system combined with an external drying tunnel and the ground system with a longwise ventilation.

Going into details, two different case studies will be considered:

- the first one consists of a single-level aviary system (in a shed) where the hens faeces, responsible of ammonia emissions, accumulate on the ground floor while a longitudinal ventilation system provides to their drying.

- the second one consists of a multi-level aviary system for hens housing, equipped with an external drying tunnel (Manure Drying System - MDS). Ammonia emissions can be further decreased by adopting proper feeding strategies based on the use of food characterized by antioxidant properties.

In addition to the quantification of ammonia emissions decrease, a further goal of the project is to consider the possibility to include the first typology into the BATs (Best Available Techniques), reported in the IRPP BREF 2017.

Partnership

Coordinator: Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali - CRPA S.p.A.

Partners: PROAMBIENTE s.c.r.l., Fondazione CRPA Studi Ricerche, Società Agricola Fiorin di Lionello & C. s.s., Micro s.n.c. Società Agricola di Stronati Alfio & C., Agricola Albarello, Assoavi

Duration: 2017/08/01 – 2020/07/31 (36 months)

Budget: Overall = 198.919 €. Regional Funding = 178.916 €.

Website: http://gasfreehens.crpa.it/