The main objective of this study was to study some environmental factors affecting broiler housing in winter season. The results showed that, temperature fluctuations between house ceiling and floor ranged between 0.4 to 5.93 ºC during the first two days of age. The average house temperature reduced gradually from 29.7 to 21.3 ºC. The indoor relative humidity ranged between 43.6 to 74.3 %. Specific heating power, specific fuel consumption and heating energy requirements ranged between 3850.2 W/ºC , 0.34 kg /h. ºC and 308.9 kJ/h. kg at the first week of age to 6213.4 W/ºC , 0.36 kg /h. ºC and 19.3 kJ/h. kg at the end of the life respectivel

Assad DERBALA

Mohamed GHONAME

Tarek FOUDA

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Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     147 SOME  ENVIRONMENTEAL  FACTORS  AFFECTING  BROILER HOUSING IN WINTER SEASON  Tarek FOUDA1, Assad DERBALA1, Mohamed GHONAME1  1 Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture Engineering Department  Tanta University, Egypt Phone: +201228476266 and +201223558436,  Fax: 0020403455570, E-mail: tfouda@yahoo.com  and ghoname_mohamed@ymail.com  Corresponding author: tfouda@yahoo.com  Abstract   The main objective of this study was to study some environmental factors affecting broiler housing in winter season. The results showed that, temperature fluctuations between house ceiling and floor ranged between 0.4 to 5.93 ºC during the first two days of age. The average house temperature reduced gradually from 29.7 to 21.3 ºC. The indoor relative humidity ranged between 43.6 to 74.3 %. Specific heating power, specific fuel consumption and heating energy requirements ranged between 3850.2 W/ºC , 0.34 kg /h. ºC and 308.9 kJ/h. kg at the first week of age  to 6213.4 W/ºC , 0.36 kg /h. ºC and 19.3  kJ/h. kg  at the end of the life respectively.  Keywords: broiler, relative humidity, specific heating power, temperature  INTRODUCTION  Environmental control is an important factor that  effect  on  broiler  performance  and  meat yield.  Indoor  air  temperature  is  one  of  the most  important  environmental  factors because,  maintaining  the  correct  air temperature  is  crucial  in  chicks  brooding, especially during the first seven to ten days of the  chick's  life.  Early  in  life,  the  chick  is poorly  equipped  to  regulate  its  metabolic processes  to  adequately  control  its  body temperature. As a result, the young chick is dependent  on  environmental  temperature  to maintain  optimal  body  temperature Supplemental  heating  systems  play  an important role in environmental management, especially  during  the  brooding  phase. However, in many locations for a portion of the growout supplemental heating may not be needed. On the other hand, proper ventilation is needed throughout a growout, even during times  when  supplemental  heat  is  being provided, for control of air quality if not for cooling.. Environmental parameters inside the poultry  housing  are  mainly  include;  air temperature, air relative humidity, ventilation, and  light  level  during  brooding.  In  2010, Egyptian  production  of  chicken's  meat  was 685000 tonnes. (FAO, 2012) (El-Hadidi, 1989) informed that, Light is  an important factor during brooding that can not be ignored. There is evidence that such long photoperiods  (22-24  h/day)  can  adversely affect the functional development of eyes of chickens. Broilers must receive 22 hours light and  2  hours  darkness  from  24  o'clock  to  2 o'clock  from  the  second  week  of  bird  age. (Lacy,  002)  showed  that,  both  pancake  and radiant brooders allow chicks to move toward or  away  from  the  heat  source  to  seek  a comfortable  temperature.  In  recent  years radiant brooders have become popular, since they have been shown to reduce fuel costs by 15 to 30% as compared to pancake brooders and  forced  air  furnaces.  (Cobb  Broiler Management  Guide,  2008)  reported  that,  at placement,  floor  temperatures  should  be  at least 32°C with forced air heating. If radiant heaters/brooder  stoves  are  used,  floor temperatures should be 40.5°C under the heat source.  (Fairchild,  2009)  indicated  that, ammonia production can be reduced through the control of air relative humidity which in turn is regulated by ventilation. An air relative humidity level of 50 to 70% is recommended to minimize ammonia production and dust. Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     148 (Arbo Acers Guide, 2009).  Light  intensity  of  30–40  lux  (3–4  foot candles) from 0–7 days of life and 5–10 lux (0.5–1.0 foot candles) thereafter will improve feeding activity and growth. The intensity of light  should  be  uniformly  distributed throughout the house (reflectors placed on top of lights can improve the distribution of light). (Fouda et  al., 2012)  found that, when  using perforated  tube  for  heat  distribution  led  to reduction in gas consumption, supplementary heating and litter moisture content at the end of  life  by  27.07,  15.35  and  20.39% respectively. While feed conversion efficiency was increased by 3%. (Ghoname et al., 2012) showed that, using forced air heating without polyethylene  tube  temperature  stratification ranged  between  0.4  and  5.93  ºC.  Whereas, employing  the  forced  air  furnace  with perforated  tube,  led  to  minimize  the temperature  stratification  to  -2.9ºC  and 0.043ºC during the first two days age. Using forced  air  furnace  with  perforated  tube decreased feed conversions ratio from 1.65 to 1.60 after five weeks age.   -The objectives of the present work were  to  investigate  the  effect  of  some environmental factors on broilers.   MATERIALS AND METHODS  Experimental  work  was  conducted  to investigate the effect of some environmental factors  on  broilers  housing.  The  main experiment were carried out in private broiler house on winter 2011 , Menofia Governorate were  located  at(  30.7°  "N  and  30.9°  "E) ,Egypt.  It  is  most  important  to  arrange  all equipment  (feeders,  drinkers,  and supplementary  light)  so  that  the  tasks associated with management, such as feeding and  drinking,  can  be  carried  out  easily. Therefore, the broiler house was equipped by 100  tubular  feeders  using  hand-feeding system  arranged on the interior surface area by 5.25 m2 per one feeder. It   also   equipped   by   50 round-long drinkers evenly arranged on the interior surface area by 10.5 m2 per one drinker.  To provide adequate light intensity inside the broiler house, 26 lamps (40 Watt) was evenly distributed particularly at the first two weeks of age, so that the chicks can find the feeding and drinking systems easily.  MATERIALS: Heating air system  Forced  air  conventional  system  (furnace, counter flow heat exchanger , axial fan taken motion  directly  from  electric  motor  3  phase with  1.5  kW  in  power).  The  fan  air displacement is 3 m3 /s. and electric control box.   House specification Broiler  house  having  gross  dimensions  of 525m2  The house is East – west oriented. Chick    The broiler housing occupy 5000 chicks that have  one  day  age.  The  hybrid  (Cobb)  was used in this experiment.  METHODS: Measurements  Temperature measurements Sensors  were  used  to  measure  air temperatures  inside  and  outside  the  broiler house. Inside the house air temperatures were measured in two different levels at height of  0.25m above the floor surface and at height of 3 of floor surface. Relative humidity Indoor relative humidity and out door relative humidity  was  also  measured  using  digital hygrometer.  with  ±  5%  accuracy  .The  air relative  humidity  during  the  experimental work was measured daily at different pointes inside the house. Specific heating power Specific  heating  power  is  the  quantity  of energy added to the broiler house ambient air which make temperature rise in that house by one  degree  using  heating  system  (Hanan, 1998).    Where: Sp =  Specific heating power, Watt/ ºc Qadd = Heat energy addition, W TR= the temperature rise in the house ambient air by 1ºC.   TRQSp add Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     149 Specific heating power for every m3 of the house volume    Sp\  =  specific  heating  power  which  make temperature rise in the house ambient air by 1 ºC/house volume m3  Vh = house volume, m3.   Specific fuel consumption Fuel consumption really which was used for rise the air temperature in the house by 1ºC                                                                                                                                                                                            Where: S.f.c Specific fuel consumption, kg/h.ºC. n.f.c = fuel consumption in the operating time, kg/h.                                                           RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  Indoor  temperature  and  air  relative humidity Air temperature is one of the most important factors  that  effect  on  broiler  performance. (Figure.1) showed the relation between indoor and out door temperature during different day hours.     ( Age 9 day)510152025303500:0002:0004:0006:0008:0010:0012:0014:0016:0018:0020:0022:00￿Time (h) 12/1/2011Temperature (ºC) Floor CeilingOut sideRecommended Figure1 .The relation between indoor and out door temperature  The ceiling temperature for all day hours was higher than floor temperature which is more important for chicks' .In addition to the floor house temperature was lower than the recommended temperature for this period of life. The recommended temperature at chicks' zone is 31 ºC but, the average floor and ceiling temperatures were 25.3 and 28.7 ºC respectively while the average outdoor temperature was 13.7 ºC. There is 5.7 ºC difference between recommended temperature and floor house temperature which affecting broiler performance. The  relation  between  air  temperature  and relative  humidity  is  adversely  proportional. When broiler age increase, the air temperature decreased and air relative humidity increase. (Figure.2) showed the relation between indoor air temperature  and  relative humidity during birds  age.  The    average  house  temperature reduced gradually from   29.7 ºC at the end of the first week until reached to 21.3 ºC at the end of the fifth week of age.  15202530351 2 3 4 5Age (week)Temperature (ºC)01530456075Relative humidity %House temperatureIndoor relative humidity Figure 2. The relation between indoor air temperature  and  relative humidity during birds age  The  floor  temperature  was  lower  than  the recommended  temperature  during  all    age periods .  If chicks are chilled, nutrients that might have been used for body development are used to maintain body heat. Chilled chicks also tend to huddle together and most do not seek out feed or water, so a number of birds may die. The performance of the chicks that survive  chilling  is  likely  to  be  limited  due suppressed  digestive  or  immune  system functions.  The  ability  of  indoor  air  to  hold  moisture depends  upon  its  temperature.  The  level  of indoor  air  relative  humidity  influences  the ability  of  the  birds  to  cool  them  through panting and influences  ammonia production. The  indoor  relative  humidity  was  increased from  43.7  %  in  the  first  week  of  age  until reached to 71.3% at fifth week of age. Indoor air relative humidity  increased at the end of the  heating  period  due  to  the  heat  energy supplied during that time was insufficient to hadd \V TRQSpTRc . f . nc . f . S Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     150 absorb more moisture from the indoor air. In addition to, increasing the moisture adding to the house from broiler faecal. An air relative humidity level of 50 to 70% is recommended to minimize ammonia production and dust.        Energy requirements The heating energy requirements is dependent up  only  in  broiler  age  and  mass.  As  birds increased in age, the body mass increased and sensible heat from birds increased also. As a result  ,  The  heating  energy  requirements reduced.  (Figure.3)  showed  the  relation between  heating  energy  requirements  and  body mass during birds age .The broilers body mass was increased from 0.13 kg at the first week of age until reached to 1.9 kg at  fifth week  of  age.  So,  the  heating  energy requirements decreased gradually from 308.9 kJ/h.kg at the first week of age until reached to 19.2  kJ/h.kg at fifth week of age.   00.20.40.60.811.21.41.61.821 2 3 4 5Age (week)Body mass ( kg)050100150200250300350Energy requirmentes ( kJ/h.kg)Body weight kgEnergy kJ/hr.kg Figure  3  .The  relation  between  heating  energy requirements and  body mass during birds age   Specific heating power (SP) Specific  heating  power  dependent  on  heat energy addition to the house  and temperature rise  in  the  house.    (Figure.4)  showed  the relation  between  specific  heating  power during  different  period  of  age  .  Specific heating power increase from 3850.3 W/ºC at first week to 5929.5  W/ºC at the end of the second week of age because the brooding area was  increased  after  10  days  of  age  and reduced to 3122 W/ºC at the end of third week because the heat energy addition reduce with increased  birds  in  age.  But,    after  that  the brooded birds were translocated from a small partial area to the whole house brooding . In addition  to,  the  heating  system  can  not  be delivered  hot  air  to  the  end  of  the  house leaved  the  third  part  of  house  volume  cold. Therefore,  the  heating  system  was continuously  operated  to  rise  the  indoor  air temperature to  the recommended  level.  This means that, more increased in supplementary heat energy addition and gas consumption rate occurred. As a result of that , the heated house volume  increased  so,  the  specific  heating power increased again until reached to 6213.4 W/ºC.  Specific heating power for every m3 of the house volume (SP/ ) Specific  heating  power  for  every  m3  of  the house  volume  dependent  on  heat  energy addition to the house  , temperature rise in the house and house volume.  (Figure.5) showed the  relation  between  specific  heating  power for  every  m3  of  the  house  volume  during different  period  of  age  .  Specific  heating power  increase  from  6.6  W/m3.ºC  at  first week to 6.8  W/m3.ºC at the end of the second week of  age because  the brooding  area  was increased after 10 days of age and reduced to 2.88  W/m3.ºC  at  the  end  of  third  week because the heat energy addition reduce with increased  birds  in  age.  But,    after  that  the brooded birds were translocated from a small partial area to the whole house brooding . In addition  to,  the  heating  system  can  not  be delivered  hot  air  to  the  end  of  the  house leaved  the  third  part  of  house  volume  cold. Therefore,  the  heating  system  was continuously  operated  to  rise  the  indoor  air temperature to  the recommended  level.  This means that, more increased in supplementary heat energy addition and gas consumption rate occurred. As a result of that , the heated house volume  increased  so,  the  specific  heating power  increased  again  until  reached  to  3.8 W/m3.ºC.  Specific fuel consumption (S.F.C) Specific fuel  consumption dependent  on gas consumption  and  temperature  rise  in  the house (Figure.6) showed the relation between specific  fuel  consumption  during  different period  of  age.  Specific  fuel  consumption increase  from  0.34  kg/h.ºC  at  first  week  to Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     151 0.54 kg/h.ºC at the end of the second week of age because the brooding area was increased after  10  days  of  age  and  reduced  to  0.2 kg/h.ºC at the end of third week because the gas consumption reduce with increased birds in age. But,  after that the brooded birds were translocated from a small partial area to  the whole  house  brooding  .  In  addition  to,  the heating system can not be delivered hot air to the end of the house leaved the third part of house volume cold.   300035004000450050005500600065000 1 2 3 4 5 Age (week)SP (W/ºc)SP (W/ºC) Figure 4. The relation between specific heating power during different periods of age.  23456780 1 2 3 4 5Age (week) SP/  (W/m3.ºC)SPl  (W/m3.ºC) Figure 5 . The relation between specific heating power for every m3 during different periods of age  0.10.20.30.40.50.60 1 2 3 4 5Age (week)S.F.C (kg/h.ºC)S.F.C (kg/h.ºC) Figure  6.  The  relation  between  Specific  fuel consumption during different periods of age.  Therefore,  the  heating  system  was continuously  operated  to  rise  the  indoor  air temperature to  the recommended  level.  This means that, more increased in supplementary heat energy addition and gas consumption rate occurred. As a result of that , the heated house volume  increased  so,  the  specific  heating power  increased  again  until  reached  to  0.36 kg/h.ºC.  CONCLUSIONS  The main results of the present research can be summarized as follows: - Temperature at chick zone was lower than the recommended by 18.4 % which affecting broiler performance at 9 day  age . -  The  average  floor  house  temperature  was lower  the  recommended  by  11.8  %  through the life cycle. - Average house indoor air relative humidity  through the life cycle was 58.8% which was in the recommended range. -  Heating  energy  requirements    reduced gradually  with  increasing  birds  in  age  by 93.7% from the first week of age.    - Average specific heating power was 4860.8 W/ºC. -  Average  specific  heating  power  for  house volume was 4.7W/m3.ºC. - Average specific fuel consumption was 0.35 kg/h.ºC.  REFERENCES  [1]Arbor  Acers  Guide,  2009.    Broiler    management guide , www.Aviagen.com , pp. 1-63. [2]Cobb  Broilers  Guide,  2008.  Cobb  Broiler management guide www.Cobb.com , pp, 1-65.  [3]El-Hadidi  Y.M.,  1989,  Mechanization  on  poultry farms.  Ph.  D.,  Thesis,  Agricultural  Mechanization Dept., Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University. [4]Fairchild    B.  D.,  2009,  Environmental  factors  to control when  brooding chicks. University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension service, Colleges of Agriculture and Environmental sciences, April, Bulletin 1287, 1- 6. [5]FAO.,  2012.  FAO  Statistics  Division.  Poultry production. http//faostat.fao.org. /Site /569. [6]Fouda T.Z., Darwesh M.R. , Ghoname  M.S.,2012. Minimize  Energy  requirement  for  heating  broiler housing.  Scientific  Papers  Series  Management, Economic  Engineering  in  Agriculture  and  Rural Development Vol.12, Issue 1.  [7]Ghoname  M.S.,  Derbala  A.A.,  Fouda  T.Z., AbdelLatif  S.M.,  2012,  Effect  of  heating  system  on temperature stratification in broiler housing. Misr J. of Ag. Eng., 29(3):1197-1212.                      [8]Hanan J.J., 1998, Greenhouses advanced technology for  protected  horticulture,  CRC  Press.  Boca  Raton. Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     152 Boston,  London,  New  York,  Washington  D.  C.       Chapter (4), 167-260. [9]Lacy M. P., 2002, Broiler management In, ell, D.B. , Weaver  W.  D.,  eds.  Commercial  Chicken  Meat  and Egg Production, 5th ed, pp. 829-868                                                                                                 

SOME ENVIRONMENTEAL FACTORS AFFECTING BROILER HOUSING IN WINTER SEASON

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