Poor air quality in intensive poultry houses causes chronic respiratory disease and welfare problems for millions of birds. Ventilation standards and litter management are key interventions.
Chronic exposure to ammonia and dust in intensive poultry houses causes respiratory disease that affects bird welfare from hatching to slaughter. Ammonia is acutely painful to mucous membranes at high concentrations; birds in high-ammonia environments develop corneal ulceration, rhinitis, and tracheitis that impair feeding and drinking behavior. The welfare problem is compounded by its invisibility: birds in chronically compromised air quality may not display obvious clinical signs until disease is advanced. Litter management programs that maintain low moisture content, combined with adequate ventilation, are the most effective welfare interventions. Regulatory standards setting maximum ammonia thresholds with enforceable penalties are needed in jurisdictions that currently lack them.