THE EFFECT OF COMPOSTING ON ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN NON-COMMERCIAL CHICKEN LITTERTools Wilde, Milli (2024) THE EFFECT OF COMPOSTING ON ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN NON-COMMERCIAL CHICKEN LITTER. MRes thesis, University of Nottingham.
AbstractExtensive antibiotic resistances are found in chicken litter, which can then be transferred to soil when used as fertiliser. This, in turn, leads to elevated levels of enteric bacteria in soil and an altered soil resistome, which may pose risk a to human health through the contamination of crops. Composting of chicken litter has been shown to be a viable option to decrease levels of enteric bacteria, potential pathogens, and antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to explore the effect of composting on chicken litter originated from birds that were not raised commercially or with antibiotics using phenotype-based methods (antimicrobial susceptibility testing), as resistance in these types of chickens is often not examined, and phenotypic methods rarely utilised in this area of research. Chicken litter from a ‘back-yard’ system was composted outside in a 1000 L volume for 100 days. The study found increased levels of enteric bacteria and most antibiotic resistances during the 100-day composting period, which appeared to be largely attributable to the passage of time (and any other compost changes this would entail) rather than to temperature. Temperature profiles of the compost heap revealed that variable patterns were recorded, and it is hypothesised that these were associated with the lack of aeration available to the heap, leading to poor removal of enteric bacteria and antibiotic resistance.
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