Guidelines for Free-range Poultry Keeping

WASTE MANAGEMENT

The livestock waste deposited on land should periodically be removed as necessary. The removed livestock waste should either be composted on farm or be collected for reuse, treatment, or disposal in accordance with the Code of Practice for Livestock Waste Management. Under normal circumstances, there is no need to wash the land following dry muck-out.

The livestock waste discharged into a fish pond should be assimilated within the pond by maintaining an ecological balance in the pond (e.g. by keeping fishes in the pond and ensuring that the number of fishes and the size of the pond are large enough to cope with the amount of wastes discharged into the pond).

Whether the free-range poultry keeping is on land or in pond, a permanent bund should be constructed on the downslope perimeter(s) of the farm to prevent any highly contaminated surface runoff from leaving the farming area. The bund should be high enough to retain the runoff collected during the first 15 minutes of an average rainstorm with a return period of two years. In general, the bund should not be less than 150mm (6 inches) high for a flat site and it should be higher for a sloping site. Detailed requirements are given in the Code of Practice for Livestock Waste Management. The water retained by the bund is considered as livestock waste and its treatment and disposal are subject to control under WDO. Normally, it will gradually be absorbed by the soil underneath.

Any wastewater generated from farming operation may be disposed of through a soakaway system. Guidelines on soakaway systems for livestock waste treatment are given in the "Guidelines for Soakaway System".