Fecal coliforms are indicator bacteria that are used for determining crater
quality. Poultry growers may be implicated when fecal coliforms are found
in surface waters following:runoff events from broiler litter-amended pastu
res and hayfields. This study determined the numbers of fecal coliforms in
fresh and stacked broiler litter. In 1998, 10 of 20 fresh and all 19 stacke
d broiler litter samples from eight different Georgia counties contained le
ss-than-detectable numbers of fecal coliforms (< 10 fecal coliforms per g o
f dry weight litter). In 1999, all 13 interior and 12;of 13 exterior sample
s of stacked litter from one South Carolina and two Georgia counties contai
ned less-than-detectable numbers of fecal coliforms. When high numbers of f
ecal coliforms (> 10,000,000 fecal coliforms per g of dry weight litter) we
re added to five different broiler titter samples numbers of fecal coliform
s declined to below detectable levels within 8 days. When water was added t
o two of the five stacked litter samples, survival of fecal coliforms did n
ot increase, but survival did increase when the temperature was lowered fro
m 28 to 18 degreesC. The data suggest that-poultry growers should consider
stacking broiler litter for a reasonable period of time (> 8 days) to elimi
nate fecal coliforms in runoff from landspread broiler litter.