Guidelines for Free-range Poultry Keeping

INTRODUCTION

Following the implementation of the Livestock Waste Control Scheme in 1988 and the revised Livestock Waste Control Scheme in 1994, livestock farmers in Livestock Waste Control and Restriction Areas are required to comply with control requirements in the management and disposal of livestock waste. Poultry may be kept either in cages or by free-range method on land or in a fish pond. The difference in husbandry techniques may lead to different approaches in the management of the waste. These guidelines are prepared with a view to providing livestock farmers and system designers with general information on the management of poultry waste arising from free-range poultry keeping in order to abate pollution caused by livestock waste.

Land area used for free-range poultry keeping should normally not be paved such that any residual waste can be assimilated by soil, thus reducing the amount of livestock waste contamination in the runoff. In the case of a fish pond, the embankment should be water-tight. Any leakage or discharge from the pond is subject to control under the Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO). An offence under the WDO may constitute a violation of other legislation (including the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance and the Waterworks Ordinance, etc.).