A review of adoptable measures to manage heat problems

Contenido disponible en: Español (Spanish)

The measures to attain our birds’ maximum genetic potential during times of heat will be aimed at two main objectives.

• Reducin sensation of heat
• Reduce heat stress from the birds

Reduce sensation of heat

To reduce heat sensation of the chickens and maintain the thermoneutral balance, it’s important to control the followings:

• Reducing environmental temperature
• Humidity control
• Increasing air velocity around chickens

Some measures should be considered even before starting the construction of the farm.

• Choose ventilated areas.
• The orientation of the house should be from (EAST) E / SE-NW / W (WEST), although with sealed / dark houses this aspect becomes less important.
• Good insulation to reduce heat coming in from the outside and to avoid heat loss in cold seasons.
• Well-sealed houses where we can full control the air inlets.
• Reducing the number of animals housed reduces the contribution of heat and humidity, but it will mean a reduction in the income of farmers.
• Use less litter, but it should be kept well aerated.
  • The fermentation of the chicken manure produces heat and we can find bedding with temperatures above 45ºC inside.
• The direct entry of sun inside, in addition to supplying a high contribution of heat, causes the chickens to move to the shady areas, where high animal density can take place and lead to localized heat stress.

The ventilation itself provides heat at all times when the outside air inlet temperature is higher than the inside temperature of the building.

Natural ventilation systems

With natural ventilation we cannot control the air renewal flow rates or the ventilation circuits, nor can we use the cooling systems properly.

Any obstruction to ventilation around the house and air inlets through windows should be avoided.

The available resources must be used properly, which are usually vertical fans arranged throughout the house to project air towards the chickens simulating a “tunnel” effect.

If these houses have a cooling system, this is usually due to misting inside, significantly increasing the relative humidity.