Eureka! Institutional Repository

Poultry waste management and exploitation is essential, since poultry farming is extremely common and growing and it is a very important and integral branch of animal production. Scope of this thesis is the investigation of management disposal and exploitation in poultry breeding farms in the region of West Attica. Data acquisition was based on the method of personal interviews, by using a specific formulated questionnaire. The survey was conducted between January and May 2017, with on-site visits in 54 breeding farms in the Regional Unity of Attica, where most of the poultry breeding holdings of all types and sizes exist. Statistical analysis was carried with Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS Version 11 and “Chi-Square Test” was performed. The main findings of the survey are. The West Attica Region is leading the Greek egg production, covering (28.50%) of total egg production, which is (43.60%) of total production. In the majority of breeding farms (88.90%) the intensive farming method is applied. Half of those breeding farms (48.20%) uses battery cages and almost all of those breeding farms are “upgraded” (96.15%) while the rest of the breeding farms (46.30%) use scratched floor (barn type). The types of farming waste are in solid, pulp form and contain, apart from animal faecal matter, dead hens, remainder animal feed, layer material, cleaning water and leakage from the animal irrigation system. Harvesting and storage of breeding farms solid and liquid waste is performed by automatic belt (48.20%), manually (35.20%) and bobcut (16.60%). Storage of waste outside the breeding farms is performed by metal cans (48.20%), in regular weekly (42.60%) and monthly (20.40%) intervals. The removal of solid and liquid waste outside the breeding farms premises is performed bulk in solid from (59.30%) with a dedicated leased vehicle and liquid waste is removed with a dedicated special tank (35.20%). Most of the produced waste volume is used as organic fertilizer for the owners’ fields. Half of the breeding farms (50.00%) grant their waste for free to other farmers as organic fertilizers. After being processed, (37.00%) of the waste is sold as special organic fertilizer to farmers, while (13.00%) of breeding farms waste is used by owners for energy production (biodiesel). Regarding the farmers that participated in the survey opinions, (75.00%) believes that their activities have zero or minimum impact on the environment and no nuisance on their neighbors, while (25.00%) believes that the environmental impact is significant and that they should improve their method or adopt alternative ways of waste management and exploitation. In conclusion, intensification viii of breeding farm activities during the past years is increased and it can impose important environmental issues, which need to be addressed in a rational way, benefiting both the breeding farms and the natural environment