Investigation into an alternative approach of environmental control to enhance sensible heat transfer from broiler chickens during hot weather periods

Climatic conditions within the broiler building play an important role in the performances, health and welfare of broiler chickens. During hot weather periods, farmers in the temperate climates usually open all inlets onthe sidewall andoperate all the fans in theroof of thebroiler building to allow maximum airflow to relieve broilers of heat stress. However, the effects of this practice on the air velocity distribution in the broiler occupied zones of such type of building are not well documented. Therefore, this research work was set up to (1) investigate the impact of wide opened inlet on the airflow characteristics in the broiler occupied zones of an experimental broiler building at Harper Adams University, UK; (2) develop and evaluate the performance of a hot weather ventilation system, incorporatingan oscillation baffle, for broiler buildings; (3) examine the impact of the ventilation system on the airflow characteristics in the broiler occupied zones and the sensible heat transfer from broiler model. The results of the study indicated that the act of fully opening the inlets of broiler building during hot weather seasons did not improve the airflow in the broiler occupied zones at all measurement locations, including the sidewall area of the building. However, with the development of the hot weatherventilation system with oscillation baffle, operating at different fanfrequencies, baffle oscillation angles and baffle oscillation frequencies, there was a significant improvement in the average air velocity in the broiler occupied zones. At higher inlet turbulence, there was an increase in the sensible heat transfer from broilersin the sidewall area of the broiler building. This indicates that oscillation of inlet baffle instead of keeping it wide opened during the hot weather periods could direct moreairflow into the broiler occupied zones and relieve broiler chickens of heat stress