Ammonia from poultry litter in intensive housing causes chronic respiratory disease, eye damage, and significant suffering in billions of chickens and turkeys annually. Effective management solutions exist but are inconsistently applied.
Chronic ammonia exposure in intensive poultry housing causes ongoing respiratory and ocular suffering that is effectively invisible to consumers. Birds breathing air that causes inflammation and eye damage every day of their lives are experiencing a form of chronic welfare impairment that rarely registers as the acute crisis it represents at scale. Effective litter management, adequate ventilation, and lower stocking densities can achieve ammonia levels below welfare thresholds — the gap between best and common practice reflects inadequate regulatory enforcement.