Survival of fecal coliforms in fresh and stacked broiler litter

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.