Ammonia accumulation in poultry houses causes significant respiratory and ocular welfare harm to billions of chickens and turkeys annually, with ventilation management and litter quality the primary control mechanisms.
Ammonia is an invisible but pervasive welfare problem in intensive poultry housing, causing chronic respiratory tract damage and corneal burns that affect birds throughout their lives. At high concentrations it causes immediate pain; at moderate sustained concentrations it causes progressive damage to sensitive ocular and respiratory tissues over the weeks birds spend in production housing. The welfare harm is measurable in tissue damage, behavioral changes and productivity loss, yet ammonia monitoring in commercial poultry houses is often infrequent and enforcement of regulatory limits inconsistent. Continuous ammonia monitoring systems, responsive ventilation management and litter quality programs that prevent excessive moisture accumulation are all technically straightforward interventions that would dramatically reduce this pervasive source of chronic welfare harm.