Chicken manure has long been used as a fertilizer. While some farmers apply the litter to their own fields, others have found a source of brokering their litter through galitter.org, a Web site operated by the Georgia Poultry Federation that matches growers who have litter to those who wish to acquire it.

A Roswell company has found yet another potential use for the waste from poultry houses.

Roswell-based rem Engineering Inc. has designed and patented a system that will convert poultry waste into usable energy. The system was displayed as a part of an environmentally friendly exhibit at the International Poultry Expo which concluded Friday in Atlanta.

"The litter is placed in a gasification chamber, it is gasified and the gases are sent into a boiler," said Doug Latulippe of rem Engineering. "The boiler can produce steam which can generate electricity or the steam can be used for the processing needs of a feed mill, rendering plant or poultry processing plant."