Fighting heat stress in poultry
Fighting heat stress and bird’s discomfort with the right climate control solution!
The normal body temperature of chicken varies between 40°C to 42°C. Ambient temperatures that are between 13-24°C, don’t require changes in metabolism to generate or get rid of heat. That is defined as ”Thermal Neutral Zone” (TNZ). Optimal Ambient temperature between 18-24°C is defined as ”Comfort Zone”.
In the summer when ambient temperature rises above bird's comfort zone, the birds must compensate and keep their body cooler by means of evaporation, radiation, conduction and convection. During heat stress, some birds will just stand still and others will crouch by the walls and the drinkers will spread their wings.
Evaporation: Respiration evaporates water (similar to a dog) the bird can increase respiration rate normally by over 10 times. But that requires energy!
Radiation: Body heat transferred to surrounding environment decreases with raised temperatures. At 40°C surrounding temperature it’s almost zero heat loss.
Conduction: Very little transfer of heat as contact surface is small.
Convection: The bird will spread the wings and raise the feathers to get more air movements on the skin to increase convection.
Heat stress will heavily impact bird's performance and will affect FCR. As temperature rises, birds refrain from eating. Digestion increases the body temperature and makes it even harder for the bird to cope with the heat. Fasting during heat stress will reduce mortality.
It is absolutely important to maintain adequate water supply as birds lose water due to high respiration rate.
Good ventilation is essential during heat stress when ambient temperature is above the comfort zone of the birds, Climate Control is needed to remove excess heat from the structure by means of high air speed to cool the birds and reduce the air temperature before it makes contact with the birds.
Created wind chill in tunnel houses and as air passes over a chicken, heat is removed from the chicken. The chicken experiences this heat removal as a cooling effect.
Numerous factors influence the wind chill birds feel: bird age, air speed, air temperature, relative humidity and even bird´s breed.
Due to the fact that tunnel-ventilated houses are growing in size and complexity, there is an increasing demand for more powerful, reliable and energy-efficient exhaust fans. The Euroemme® EC52 exhaust cone fan has been especially designed to fulfill that demand.
The EC52 fan is the ideal fan for high airflow capacity at high static pressure, and low energy consumption. The EC52 fan can be used in any climate conditions (from summer to winter) and according to age of the birds (as minimum ventilation/ transition/ intermediate/ tunnel mode). Tunnel mode ventilation can be used in combination with cooling in order to create a better environment and more comfortable climate condition inside the livestock building.
CELdek® evaporative cooling pads are used in combination with ventilation systems where high efficiency cooling is required. It can be used for many different cooling purposes but is particularly suitable for cooling of livestock buildings when higher air velocity is required. The unique design of the CELdek® cooling pads guarantee high evaporation efficiency while still operating at a very low pressure drop. The water flows down the corrugated surface of the CELdek® evaporative cooling pad. Part of the water is evaporated by the warm and dry air that passes through the pad. The rest of the water assists in washing the pad, and is drained back to the pump station through a gutter system. The air that leaves the pad is therefore cooled and humidified simultaneously without any external energy supply for the evaporation process. This is nature’s own cooling process.
In order to make it possible, a good water distribution system has to be dimensioned and used. The WDP is a complete water supply and drainage system for wetting of evaporative cooling pad walls. The complete system includes a gutter system, water tank, water pump, water supply and drainage kit, pad wall stabilization and an ending kit. The WDP system has been specially designed to ensure even wetting of the CELdek® evaporative cooling pad, continuous water recirculation and mechanical stabilization of the pad wall.
The WDP system has a modular design, which allows for high flexibility in matching desired length of the pad wall. The water is supplied at the top of the CELdek® evaporative cooling pad via a distribution header. The distribution header has small calibrated holes orientated upwards. This design feature prevents the clogging and thus ensures efficient water distribution over the entire wall. The proper design of the WDP (designed on purpose/application) assures a longer life for the CELdek® pad.
The large product portfolio allows Munters experts to suggest, dimension, design and provide a tailor- made solution that perfectly fits the customer’s needs, all over the world in any climate conditions.
If you have questions, kindly get in touch with our experts through the contact form on the right.
