Ensuring proper ventilation
Technology innovations have changed the way poultry farmers are now ensuring proper ventilation in their poultry houses.
Improper ventilation can cause many problems in flocks including respiratory disease, higher susceptibility to other viruses, and exposing them to harmful temperatures.
“If you don’t have ventilation in the summertime, you probably only have about 30 minutes until death,” a contract poultry farmer in Northwest Arkansas who agreed to be interviewed but preferred not to be named said.
In this poultry farmer’s operation, he has 10 fans per house, with a tunnel ventilation system that acts as a thermostat based on a computerized system. Sensors throughout the house measure the temperature.
Chicken houses should be located facing east to west and on higher ground for better airflow.
The tunnel ventilation system pulls air through the houses. Curtains in the houses enable temperature management, as they rise and lower to adjust airflow.
“The only reason one house may have worse ventilation than another is if you have more holes in your curtains in one than the other” said the contract poultry farmer.
There are daily issues with owning poultry houses, the farmer said. The main issues he described specifically relating to ventilation systems was the wear and tear on bearings and motors in the operation.
“Maintenance is a time-consuming activity, but the payoffs can be significant” Oklahoma State Extension facts sheet authored by R. Scott Frazier an Oklahoma State Energy Specialist said.
Keeping facilities operating well and fixing issues as quickly as possible is a key factor in the health of your chickens and overall cost of operations.
A cautionary issue with the ventilation systems is that they are an access point for rodents and predators.
“The only problem we have is rats, and you aren’t keeping those out,” the contract poultry farmer said.
Rats and other rodents are biosecurity threats because they can bring disease into the houses. They also can damage the structure by chewing holes in curtains and through wires.
Ventilation is an important process to calculate for when considering the operations of a poultry farm. It can be life or death for the chickens in those houses, as comfortable temperatures are necessary.
