Poultry production runs in cycles, and the end of each cycle produces a concentrated burst of animal by-product material that is quite different in character to the daily mortality a unit handles the rest of the time. Martlands is a DEFRA approved provider of fallen stock and ABP collection licensed for all three by-product categories, and end of flock poultry ABP collection is a planned operation rather than a reactive one. On a unit running several houses on staggered cycles, that planning is the difference between a smooth turnaround and a week of improvisation.
What the End of a Cycle Generates
Depopulation itself removes the great majority of birds through the normal commercial route, and those birds are not fallen stock. What remains behind is. Birds that die during catching, birds rejected at the point of loading, casualties that arise in the hours before the catching team arrives, and any birds euthanised on welfare grounds during the process are all fallen stock and require licensed collection under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013.
Thinning creates the same picture in miniature, part way through a broiler cycle rather than at the end of it. The disruption of a partial catch produces mortality in the birds left behind as well as during the catch itself, and units frequently see a small spike in the twenty-four to forty-eight hours afterwards. That is predictable enough to plan a collection around.
The Twenty-Four Hour Duty Applies to Volume as Well
There is a persistent assumption on some units that the collection duty is about individual animals and that a bulk quantity arising at depopulation is somehow a different kind of problem. It is not. The obligation to arrange collection within twenty-four hours of discovery applies to the material regardless of how much of it there is, and a bin of birds standing in a yard for three days after a catch is a straightforward breach.
The realistic answer is to book the collection as part of the catching plan rather than as an afterthought. Our farm and fallen stock collection can be scheduled against a known catching date, so the vehicle arrives when the material does rather than after somebody has noticed a problem.
Litter, Bedding and the Category 2 Stream
Spent litter is the other major output of a turnaround, and it is not fallen stock. Manure and digestive tract content fall to be handled as Category 2 material, and where litter has been contaminated during a mortality incident or is being cleared following a disease event, the handling requirements are stricter than for ordinary muck management. Our Category 2 ABP collection covers that stream under the same licence portfolio, with Commercial Documentation issued in the same way.
The point that matters operationally is separation. Dead birds must not go into the litter heap, and litter must not go into the fallen stock container. Both are easy mistakes to make during a fast turnaround when several contractors are on site at once, and both are visible to an inspector afterwards.
Cleaning, Disinfection and the Gap Between Cycles
The interval between flocks is when a house is cleaned, disinfected and rested, and the quality of that work determines the health of the flock that follows. Removing every trace of by-product material is part of it. Carcasses missed in the litter, material left in a corner behind equipment, and residues in drinker lines or under slats all undermine an otherwise thorough clean-out.
Where a unit has come to the end of a cycle following elevated mortality, the standard has to be higher still, and the material coming out of the house should be treated accordingly. Our overview of what is avian influenza covers the disease that most often drives that scenario, and the reporting obligations that come with any suspicion of it.
Daily Mortality Between the Turnarounds
End of cycle work sits alongside the routine daily mortality that every unit handles, and the two need different arrangements rather than one compromise arrangement covering both. Daily mortality on a broiler or laying unit is a small, continuous stream requiring chilled or otherwise controlled storage and a regular scheduled collection. We have covered that in detail in our guide to poultry farm fallen stock collection.
Units that get this right generally run a standing scheduled collection sized for daily mortality and add a booked visit around each catching date. That keeps container volumes sensible year-round and avoids paying for capacity that is only needed six times a year.
Poultry Geography in the North West and the Borders
Commercial poultry in our service area is concentrated in a few pockets rather than spread evenly, with significant capacity on the Lancashire plain, in parts of Cheshire, and running south into the Staffordshire and Shropshire ground. Units around Staffordshire fallen stock collection tend to be larger and more intensively cycled, which makes scheduled arrangements the norm rather than the exception.
Proximity to processing capacity shapes the pattern as well, since catching and haulage logistics determine when turnarounds happen. Sites that also carry on-farm processing or supply directly into cutting operations generate additional Category 3 material, and the requirements for that are set out in our guidance on ABP collection for abattoirs and meat processing facilities.
Documentation and Assurance
Every collection produces a Commercial Document, and a Waste Transfer Note where the material is handled as waste, both accepted for Red Tractor, DEFRA audit, ISO 14001 and local authority inspection purposes. Bookings are managed through the KoLeCt system so each collection carries a traceable reference, which matters on a unit running multiple houses where an assessor may want to reconcile collections against specific cycles.
To set up an arrangement around your catching schedule, call 01704 776977. If you would prefer to talk through volumes and storage first, get in touch through contact us.
