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Data extracted in June 2021 2023
Fiche created in November 2023

Note to the reader: This general fiche summarises all the environmental and climate impacts of a set of LIVESTOCK HOUSING TECHNIQUES found in a systematic review of 13 synthesis research papers papers[1]. These papers were selected from an initial number of 606 604 obtained through a systematic literature search strategy, according to the inclusion criteria reported in section 4.  The impacts reported here are those for which there is scientific evidence available in published synthesis papers, what does not preclude the farming practice to have other impacts on the environment and climate still not covered by primary studies or by synthesis papers.

The synthesis papers review a number of primary studies ranging from 5 to 172. Therefore, the assessment of impacts As each synthesis research paper involves a number of primary research papers ranging from 5 to 172, the assessment of impacts relies on a large number of results from the primary studies, obtained mainly in field experiments (carried out in situations close to real farming environment), and conditions, or sometimes in lab experiments or from model simulations.  

1.     DESCRIPTION OF THE FARMING PRACTICE

...

...

  • Description:
    • Livestock housing techniques include several improved strategies mainly used to reduce emissions to the environment and to improve animal welfare.

...

  • Key descriptors

...

  • :
    • This review includes:

...

    • several techniques for livestock housing: floor type, in-house litter amendment with conditioners, additives or inhibitors, frequency of litter/manure removal, shading, space allowance, light management and ventilation. Please, note that this is not an exhaustive list of livestock housing techniques, but of those found in the synthesis papers that meet the requirements to be included in our review;

...

    • results for several animal categories: beef cattle, swine, poultry, sheep and goose;

...

    • only synthesis

...

    • papers, where the comparisons between livestock housing techniques and their corresponding controls come from the same field experiment.

...

    • This review does not include:

...

    • studies on manure management outside the house or on livestock feeding. These practices are assessed in separate sets of fiches. 
    • the impact of livestock housing techniques on animal welfare. Animal welfare will be assessed in a separate set of fiches.

...



2.

...

    EFFECTS OF THE FARMING PRACTICE ON

...

CLIMATE AND

...

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

We reviewed the impacts of a livestock system with a livestock housing techniques technique compared to the same system without the corresponding livestock housing technique (Table 1). 

The table below shows the number of synthesis papers reporting positive, negative or no effect, based on the statistical comparison of the intervention and the controlwith statistical tests reporting i) a significant difference between the Intervention and the Comparator, that is to say, a significant statistical effect, which can be positive or negative; or ii) a non-statistically significant difference between the Intervention and the Comparator. In addition, we include, if any, the number of synthesis papers reporting relevant results , but without statistical test of the effects (uncertain). The numbers between parentheses indicate the number of synthesis papers with a quality score of at least 50%. Details on quality criteria can be found in the . Details on the quality assessment of the synthesis papers can be found in the methodology section of this WIKI. 

Out of the 13 selected synthesis papers selected, 12 reported included studies conducted in Europe, and 11 have a quality score higher than 50%. Some synthesis papers reported more than one impact. 

...

Impact 

...

Intervention 

...

Control 

...

Positive 

...

Negative 

...

No effect 

...

Uncertain* 

...

Decrease air pollutant emissions  

...

Biofilters for exhaust air  

...

No biofilters  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (0)  

...

Deep litter 

...

Slatted floor  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Deep litter with extra straw addition  

...

Deep litter without extra straw addition  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Slatted floor/deep litter  

...

Solid floor  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

High frequency litter/manure removal  

...

Low frequency litter/manure removal  

...

0  

...

0  

...

2 (2)  

...

1 (0)  

...

Mechanical management exhaust air and manure 

...

No mechanical management 

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

In house litter treatment with conditioners, additives or inhibitors  

...

No litter treatment  

...

4 (4)  

...

0  

...

3 (3)  

...

0  

...

Decrease GHG emissions 

...

Biofilters for exhaust air  

...

No biofilters  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (0)  

...

Slatted floor  

...

Deep litter  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

0  

...

High frequency manure removal  

...

Low frequency manure removal  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (0)  

...

Increase animal production** 

...

Deep litter with alternative materials  

...

Deep litter with wood shavings  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (1)  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Deep litter with straw 

...

Slatted floor  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Rubber mats  

...

Slatted floor  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Feedlot  

...

Free range  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

Loose barn  

...

Pasture  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

Supplementary artificial light  

...

No artificial light  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

In house litter amendment with conditioners, additives or inhibitors  

...

No litter amendment 

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

0  

...

Modified roofing  

...

Conventional roofing  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

High space allowance  

...

Low space allowance  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

Shade  

...

No shade  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (1)  

...

Evaporative cooling  

...

No evaporative cooling  

...

0  

...

0  

...

0  

...

1 (0)  

Table 1: Summary of effects. Number of synthesis papers reporting positive, negative or non-statistically significant effects on environmental and climate impacts. The number of synthesis papers reporting relevant results but without statistical test of the effects are also provided. When not all the synthesis papers reporting an effect are of high quality, the number of synthesis papers with a quality score of at least 50% is indicated in parentheses. Some synthesis papers may report effects for more than one impact, or more than one effect for the same impact.

 

 

 

 

Statistically tested

Non-statistically tested

Impact

Metric

Intervention

Comparator

 Significantly positive

Significantly negative

Non-significant

Decrease Air pollutants emissions

Ammonia emissions

Biofilters and scrubbers for exhaust air 

No biofilters

1

0

1

1 (0)

Biofilters and scrubbers for exhaust air 

No mechanical exhaust air and litter management

1

0

0

0

Floor type: average of several strategies

Slatted floor

1

0

0

0

Floor type: deep litter with extra straw addition

Deep litter without extra straw addition

0

0

1

0

Floor type: slatted floor

Deep litter

0

0

1

0

Floor type: slatted floor/deep litter

Solid floor

1

0

0

0

Litter: high frequency removal

Low frequency litter removal

0

0

2

1 (0)

Litter: treatment with conditioners, additives or inhibitors

No litter treatment

4

0

3

0

Increase Animal production

Animal production

Floor type: deep litter with alternative materials

Deep litter with wood shavings

1

1

1

0

Floor type: deep litter with straw

Slatted floor

0

0

1

0

Floor type: rubber mats

Slatted floor

0

0

1

0

Housing system: feedlot

Free range

1

0

0

0

Housing system: loose barn

Pasture

0

0

0

1

Light: supplementary artificial light

No artificial light

1

0

0

0

Litter: treatment with conditioners, additives or inhibitors

No litter treatment

1

0

1

0

Roofing: modified

Conventional roofing

0

0

0

1

Shade: available

No shade

0

0

0

1

Space allowance: high

Low space allowance

0

0

0

1

Temperature: evaporative cooling

No evaporative cooling

0

0

0

1 (0)

Decrease GHG emissions

CH4 emission

Biofilters and scrubbers for exhaust air 

No biofilters

1

0

0

1 (0)

Floor type: slatted floor

Deep litter

0

1

0

0

Litter: high frequency removal

Low frequency litter removal

1

0

0

1 (0)

Decrease GHG emissions

N2O emission

Biofilters and scrubbers for exhaust air 

No biofilters

0

0

1

1 (0)

Floor type: slatted floor

Deep litter

1

0

0

0

Litter: high frequency removal

Low frequency litter removal

0

0

1

1 (0)

3.     FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFECTS ON CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

The factors significantly influencing the size and/or direction of the effects on the impacts, according to the synthesis papers included in this review, are reported below. Details about the factors can be found in the summaries of the meta-analyses available in this WIKI.

Table 2: List of factors reported to significantly affect the size and/or direction of the effects on environmental and climate impacts, according to the synthesis papers reviewed. The reference number of the synthesis papers where those factors are explored is given in parentheses.

Impact

Factors

Air pollutants emissions

Litter conditioner type (Ref1)

Animal production

Animal age (Ref2), Intensity of illumination (Ref2), Litter conditioner type (Ref1), Litter material (Ref5) and Sex ratio (Ref2)

4.    SYSTEMATIC REVIEW SEARCH STRATEGY

Table 3: Systematic review search strategy - methodology and search parameters.

Parameter

Details

Keywords

WOS: TS = ((stable  OR bed*  OR barn*  OR "litter"  OR "confinement"  OR "outdoor system*"  OR "space allowance"  OR "space requirement"  OR  "floor type*"  OR "flor characteristic*"  OR "feedlot"  OR "housing system*"  OR "housing environment*"  OR "livestock housing"  OR "ventilation rate"  OR "ventilation"  OR "tied housing"  OR "loose housing"  OR "solid floor*"  OR "perforated floor*"  OR "litter treatment")) AND TS = (("animal*"  OR "ruminant*"  OR "small ruminant*"  OR "cattle"  OR "dairy cattle"  OR "beef cattle"  OR "sheep"  OR "ewe*"  OR "lamb*"  OR "swine"  OR "pig*"  OR "porcine*"  OR "goat*"  OR "rabbit*"  OR "poultry"  OR "chicken*"  OR "broiler*"  OR "turkey*"  OR "hen*"  OR "horse*"  OR "mule*")) AND TS = (("meta-analy*" OR "systematic* review*" OR "evidence map" OR "global synthesis" OR "evidence synthesis" OR "research synthesis")) NOT TS =  (("human"  OR "medicine"  OR "children"  OR "women"  OR "men")) 

 and

SCOPUS: TITLE-ABS-KEY:

* Number of synthesis papers that report relevant results but without statistical test comparison of the intervention and the control. 

**Animal production includes results measured as animal production (egg production, duration of egg production), feed conversion ratio, feed intake (feed intake, dry matter intake), fertility, and weight (average daily gain, body weight, carcass weight, final body weight, live weight, weight gain, weight loss at weaning).   

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SIZE OF THE EFFECT 

Only the factors explicitly studied in the reviewed synthesis papers with a significant effect are reported below. Details regarding the factors can be found in the summaries of the meta-analyses. 

...

Impact 

...

Factors  

...

Air pollutants emissions  

...

Litter conditioner type (ref 1) 

...

Animal production  

...

Animal age (ref 2), Litter conditioner type (ref 1), Litter material (ref 5), Intensity of illumination (ref 2), Sex ratio (ref 2) 

4. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW SEARCH STRATEGY  

Keywords  

TS

= ((stable  OR bed*  OR barn*  OR "litter"  OR "confinement"  OR "outdoor system*"  OR "space allowance"  OR "space requirement"  OR  "floor type*"  OR "flor characteristic*"  OR "feedlot"  OR "housing system*"  OR "housing environment*"  OR "livestock housing"  OR "ventilation rate"  OR "ventilation"  OR "tied housing"  OR "loose housing"  OR "solid floor*"  OR "perforated floor*"  OR "litter treatment")) AND

TS

TITLE-ABS-KEY: = (("animal*"  OR "ruminant*"  OR "small ruminant*"  OR "cattle"  OR "dairy cattle"  OR "beef cattle"  OR "sheep"  OR "ewe*"  OR "lamb*"  OR "swine"  OR "pig*"  OR "porcine*"  OR "goat*"  OR "rabbit*"  OR "poultry"  OR "chicken*"  OR "broiler*"  OR "turkey*"  OR "hen*"  OR "horse*"  OR "mule*")) AND

TS

TITLE-ABS-KEY: = (("meta-analy*" OR "systematic* review*" OR "evidence map" OR "global synthesis" OR "evidence synthesis" OR "research synthesis")) NOT

TS

TITLE-ABS-KEY: =  (("human"  OR "medicine"  OR "children"  OR "women"  OR "men")) 

 

Search dates  

Time reference

No time

restrictions 

restriction.

Databases

 Databases  

Web of Science and Scopus

,

: run

in

on 07 June

2021  Selection criteria  

2023

Exclusion criteria

The main criteria that led to the exclusion of a synthesis paper

were when the paper: 1) does not deal withanyanimal housing technique; 2) does not synthesise pairwise comparisons on theeffect of animal housing techniques and control treatments coming from the same experiment; 3) is either a non-systematic review, a non-quantitative systematic review, o a meta-regression without mean effect sizes;4) is not written in English. Synthesis papers that passed the relevance criteria were subject to critical appraisal carried out on a paper-by-paper basis. The search returned599synthesis papers plus other 7

are: 
 1) The topic of the meta-analysis is out of the scope of this review, 2) The paper is neither a systematic review nor a meta-analysis of primary research, 3) The analysis is not based on pairwise comparisons, 4) The paper is not written in English and 5) The full text is not available. 

The search returned 598 synthesis papers from WOS and SCOPUS on Livestock housing techniques plus other 6 retrieved in the search of other farming practices, potentially relevant for the practice object of our fiche. 
From the

606

605 potentially relevant synthesis papers,

545

were excluded after reading the title and abstract, and

47

46 after reading the full text according to the above-mentioned criteria. Finally,

13

 13 synthesis papers were selected

forlivestock housing techniques

.

 

5.

...

     SYNTHESIS PAPERS INCLUDED IN THE

...

REVIEW

Table 4: List of synthesis papers included in this review. More details can be found in the summaries of the meta-analyses.

Ref Num

Author(s)

Year

Title

Journal

DOI

Ref1

...

Ref. Num. 

Author 

Year 

Title 

Reference 

doi 

1 

de Toledo, TDS; Roll, AAP; Rutz, F; Dallmann, HM; Pra, MAD; Leite, FPL; Roll, VFB

 

2020

 

An assessment of the impacts of litter treatments on the litter quality and broiler performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

 

PLOS ONE, 86(5), 1223-1231.

 

10.1371/journal.pone.0232853

 

2 

Ref2

Liu, GJ; Chen, ZF; Zhao, XH; Li, MY; Guo, ZH

 

2020

 

Meta-analysis: Supplementary artificial light and goose reproduction

 

ANIMAL REPRODUCTION SCIENCE, 214, 106278.

 

10.1016/j.anireprosci.2020.106278

 

3 

Ref3

Mendes, MFDA; de Oliveira, DH; Cruz, FL; Mendes, MADA; Ribeiro, BPVB; Ferreira, RA

 

2020

 

Evaporative cooling system for gestating and lactating sows: a systematic review

 

CIÊNCIA RURAL, 50, e20190830.

 

10.1590/0103-8478cr20190830

 

4 

Ref4

Park, RM; Foster, M; Daigle, CL

 

2020

 

A scoping review: The impact of housing systems and environmental features on beef cattle welfare

 

ANIMALS, 10(4), 565.

 

10.3390/ani10040565

 

5 

Ref5

de Toledo, TDS; Pich, CS; Roll, AAP; Pra, MAD; Leite, FL; Xavier, EG; Roll, VFB

 

2019

 

The effect of litter materials on broiler performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

 

BRITISH POULTRY SCIENCE, 236, 88-98.

 

10.1080/00071668.2019.1639143

 

6 

Ref6

Jimenez, LER; Naranjo, A; Hernandez, JCA; Ovalos, JO; Ortega, OC; Ronquillo, MG

 

2019

 

A meta-analysis on the effect of the feeding type and production system on the carcase quality of lambs

 

ITALIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, 68, 227-239.

 

10.1080/1828051X.2018.1532327

 

7 

Ref7

Wang

Ti,

Y

CP;

Xue

Xia,

WT

LL;

Zhu, ZP; Yang, JF; Li, XR; Tian, Z; Dong, HM; Zoua, GY

Chang, SX; Yan, XY

2019

Potential for mitigating global agricultural ammonia emission: A meta-analysis

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, 245, 141-148.

 

2019 

Mitigating ammonia emissions from typical broiler and layer manure management - A system analysis 

WASTE MANAGEMENT, 9(3), 730-743. 

10.1016/j.

wasman

envpol.

2019

2018.

05.019 

8 

Keane, MP; McGee, M; O’Riordan, EG; Kelly, AK; Earley, B 

2018 

Effect of floor type on performance, lying time and dirt scores of finishing beef cattle: A meta-analysis 

10.124

Ref8

Wang, Y; Xue, WT; Zhu, ZP; Yang, JF; Li, XR; Tian, Z; Dong, HM; Zoua, GY

2019

Mitigating ammonia emissions from typical broiler and layer manure management - A system analysis

WASTE MANAGEMENT, 9(3), 730-743.

LIVESTOCK SCIENCE, 212, 57-60. 

10.1016/j.

livsci

wasman.

2018

2019.

03

05.

012 

019

9 

Sajeev, EPM; Winiwarter, W; Amon, B 

2018 

Greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from different stages of liquid manure management chains: Abatement options and emission interactions 

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, 47, 30-41. 

10.2134/jeq2017.05.0199 

10 

Ti, CP; Xia, LL; Chang, SX; Yan, XY 

2019 

Potential for mitigating global agricultural ammonia emission: A meta-analysis 

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, 245, 141-148. 

10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.124 

11 

Ref9

Keane, MP; McGee, M; O'Riordan, EG; Kelly, AK; Earley, B

2018

Effect of floor type on performance, lying time and dirt scores of finishing beef cattle: A meta-analysis

LIVESTOCK SCIENCE, 212, 57-60.

10.1016/j.livsci.2018.03.012

Ref10

Sajeev, EPM; Winiwarter, W; Amon, B

2018

Greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from different stages of liquid manure management chains: Abatement options and emission interactions

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, 47, 30-41.

10.2134/jeq2017.05.0199

Ref11

Wang, Y; Li, XR; Yang, JF; Tian, Z; Sun, QP; Xue, WT; Dong, HM

 

2018

 

Mitigating greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from beef cattle feedlot production: A system meta-analysis

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 52, 11232-11242.

 

10.1021/acs.est.8b02475

 

12 

Ref12

Wang, Y; Dong, HM; Zhu, ZP; Gerber, PJ; Xin, HW; Smith, P; Opio, C; Steinfeld, H; Chadwick, D

 

2017

 

Mitigating greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from swine manure management: A system analysis

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 51, 4503-4511.

 

10.1021/acs.est.6b06430

 

13 

Ref13

Hou, Y; Velthof, GL; Oenema, O

 

2015 

Mitigation of ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane emissions from manure management chains: a meta-analysis and integrated assessment 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 21, 1293–1312. 

10.1111/gcb.12767 

2015

Mitigation of ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane emissions from manure management chains: a meta-analysis and integrated assessment

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 21, 1293–1312.

10.1111/gcb.12767

 

Disclaimer: These fiches present a large amount of scientific knowledge synthesised to assess farming practices impacts on the environment, climate and productivity. The European Commission maintains this WIKI to enhance public access to information about its initiatives. Our goal is to keep this information timely and accurate. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. However, the Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information on these fiches and WIKI.


[1] Synthesis research papers include either meta-analysis or systematic reviews with quantitative results. Details can be found in the methodology section of the WIKI.