Table Showing Elemental Composition of Poultry Manure from USA, Europe, China, and South Africa

When I was leading a research project on broiler litter management in Turkey, I got curious about the worldwide studies that determined elemental composition of broiler litter using relatively large sample sizes not just few samples.

After performing an exhaustive literature search, I prepared the following table.

If the table is interesting for you and you want to use it, please cite the following peer-reviewed article of mine. You can also use the link to access the full manuscript.

Güngör, K. 2013. Investigating the potential effects of the broiler industry's rapid regional growth on the phosphorus and trace element status of the agricultural soil. Transactions of the ASABE, 56(1), 311-319.

Elemental composition of broiler litter in different regions (all analysis results are on dry basis except for notes [a] and [d]).
Element	Unit	U.S.	Europe	China	South Africa
N	%	3.1 ±5[a] 3.6 ±1[d]	5.3 (2.6 to 10.1)[b] 3.0 (1.8 to 4.0)	3.73 ±0.51[c]	-
P	%	1.5 ±0.3[a] 1.7 ±0.4[f] 1.5 ±0.4[d]	1.8 (1.1 to 3.2)[b]	1.73 ±0.36[c]	1.5 ±0.3[e]
K	%	2.5 ±0.4[a] 3.3 ±1.2[f] 2.0 ±0.4[d]	2.5 (1.2 to 3.6)[b]	1.65 ±0.14[c]	-
Ca	%	2.5 ±0.6[a] 2.2 ±0.6[f] 2.2 ±0.5[d]	-	-	2.5 ±0.7[e]
Na	%	1.1 ±0.3[f] 0.7 ±0.2[d]	-	-	0.6 ±0.2[e]
S	%	0.6 ±0.2[d]	0.5 (0.3 to 0.8)[b]	-	-
Mg	mg kg-1	7162 ±2157[f] 4400 ±900[d]	4000 (3000 to 6000)[b]	-	5800 ±1100[e]
Al	mg kg-1	3169 ±2277[f]	-	-	834 ±1196[e]
Mn	mg kg-1	449 ±119[f] 395 ±135[d]	-	624 (207 to 1117)[g]	317 ±128[e]
Fe	mg kg-1	2189 ±1092[f] 600 ±270[d]	-	-	1335 ±1878[e]
Ni	mg kg-1	11 ±3[f] 55 ±65[d]	5.4 (2.2 to 12.3)[h]	18 (7 to 31)[g]	-
Cu	mg kg-1	479 ±230[f] 265 ±120[d]	96.8 (45.7 to 173)[h]	89 (21 to 570)[g]	43.6 ±17.7[e]
Zn	mg kg-1	373 ±89[f] 355 ±115[d]	378 (208 to 473)[h]	417 (175 to 965)[g]	254 ±59[e]
As	mg kg-1	16 ±10[f]	9.01 (<0.10 to 41.1)[h]	0.05 (<0.004 to 0.55)[g]	4.9 ±13.8[e]
Se	mg kg-1	1 ±0.3[f]	-	-	0.62 ±0.24[e]
Sr	mg kg-1	83 ±23[f]	-	146 (48 to 299)[g]	-
Cd	mg kg-1	0.3 ±0.1[f] 1.7 ±1.8[d]	0.42 (0.20 to 1.16)[h]	2 (0.3 to 11)[g]	0.32 ±0.34[e]
Ba	mg kg-1	22 ±6[f]	-	89 (28 to 180)[g]	-
Pb	mg kg-1	2 ±1[f] 20 ±20[d]	3.62 (<1.00 to 9.28)[h]	11 (3 to 20)[g]	0.55 ±2.02[e]
Cr	mg kg-1	-	17.17 (3.57 to 79.8)[h]	81 (39 to 269)[g]	11.2 ±18.0[e]
Co	mg kg-1	-	-	2 (0.2 to 6)[g]	1.08 ±0.96[e]
Mo	mg kg-1	0.43 ±0.22[d]	-	4 (1 to 7)[g]	1.5 ±1.06[e]
Hg	mg kg-1	-	-	0.02 (<0.0002 to 0.03)[g]	0.48 ±0.67[e]
[a]   Analysis results are “as is”. Mean moisture content is 30.8%. Sample size is 297 for all analytes except Ca. Calcium sample size is 296 (Sharpley et al., 2009). [b]   Sample size is 21 (Nicholson et al., 1996). [c]   Sample size is 20 (Huang et al., 2011). [d]   Analysis results are “as is”. Mean moisture content is 21%. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen is given as N. Sample sizes (n) for N, P, K, B, Ca, Cu, Fe Mg, Mn, S, and Zn are 870 ≤ n ≤ 1004. Sample sizes for Cd, Mo, Na, Ni, and Pb are 14, 327, 545, 12, and 14, respectively (Barker et al., 2001). [e]   Sample size is 106 (van Ryssen et al., 1993). [f]   Sample size is 40 (Jackson et al., 2003). [g]   Sample size is 17 (Cang et al., 2004). [h]   Analysis results are from England and Wales. Sample size is 12 (Nicholson et al., 1999).