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The provision of lighting in poultry shelters is an energy-intensive process in poultry farming, due to a lack of sunlight in closed facilities. Lighting plays an important role in the majority of organism biorhythms and it clocks the processes of vital activities of the birds. Lighting directly influences productivity, growth and sexual maturation of birds. A determining factor for the lifetime of an LED is the crystal heating temperature during its operation. It may be assumed that the LED lifetime is largely independent of the variation in the current passing through the LED (within the limits of its design values). The research objective was to conduct laboratory testing to compare the electricity consumption between the existing and a newly developed lighting system for poultry house no. 19 of the Kuchinsky Poultry Breeding Plant. In order to conduct the laboratory testing, the authors developed lighting fixtures consisting of sealed plastic bodies with an LED-carrying PCB inside. The testing continued for 113 days. The new system consumed 662 kWh, while the previous system consumed 783 kWh. Energy savings through the testing period amounted to 15%. During the testing, the new equipment was reliable; no failures of LED fixtures were recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High ammonia concentration leads to many serious problems inside the poultry houses. Different parameters are associated with the increased ammonia concentration that can accelerate the production of toxic gases inside the shed. Factors associated with high ammonia production are moisture contents of litter, ambient temperature, poor ventilation, humidity and related problems. For first 15 days of brooding, birds were kept under same conditions of management. These birds were divided into 5 distinct groups (A-E) and litter material of group C, D and E was treated with different modifiers (aluminum sulphate, aluminum silicate and Yucca extract), respectively. Temperature, moisture and microbial count of air and litter were observed. The duration of the trial was 4 weeks. Dropping composition, fecal appearance, clinical signs, breast and foot pad lesions were also monitored throughout the trial. High ammonia concentration was associated with the decreased weight gain, and increased FCR. It was noted that ammonia concentration was significantly (P<0.005) lower in treated groups as compared to the positive control group. The study observed the effect of increased ammonia concentration and provided the more convincing and affordable treatment to lower the ammonia production in poultry houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural sectors account for a part of total ammonia emissions, including poultry. This is especially true in breeding poultry houses, where birds live on litter for several months. The purpose of the research was to reduce ammonia emission and to improve birds living environment. The study was performed in two breeding poultry houses: the test house (ProLG) and the control house (ConLG). The study starts when young breeding birds (Ross 308) are housed at 19 weeks of age until the birds are eradicated at 60 weeks of age. At the test house the probiotic mixture in a powder form was manually spread 10 g per m² before the birds were placed, and it was spread manually once a week on litter and over manure pits throughout the lifetime 5 g per m² of probiotic mixture. The amount of ammonia in ProLG and ConLG houses was measured in the fifth week after the start of the study and afterwards every four weeks at the same 6 points each time and the condition of the litter was assessed on a 5-point scale. As the age of the poultry increases, the number of measurements also increases. Electricity consumption was calculated every month for the test housing and for the control housing. The trial is still ongoing, initial results showed that amount of ammonia has decreased compared to the control house, indicating that the probiotics can be used efficiently to reduce ammonia in the manure of the birds and improving the microclimate in poultry houses, but subsequent results did not give the expected results - the efficacy of probiotics had not been yet approved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental testing of poultry premises after an outbreak of an infectious disease like avian influenza (AI) or Newcastle disease is essential to promptly verify virus‐free status and subsequently return to normal operations. In an attempt to establish an optimized sampling protocol, a laboratory study simulating an AI virus‐contaminated poultry house with wire layer cages was conducted. Three sample collection devices, pre‐moistened cotton gauze, dry cotton gauze and a foam swab, were evaluated with each of four sample locations within a cage and when sampling all four locations with one device. Virus was detected with quantitative real‐time RT‐PCR utilizing a standard curve of a quantified homologous isolate of AI virus to determine titre equivalents of virus. The pre‐moistened gauze detected the most virus RNA (100% positive, geometric mean titre [GMT): 3.2 log10 50% embryo infectious doses [EID50] equivalents per 25 cm2) in all four sample locations compared to dry gauze (93% positive, GMT: 2.6 EID50 equivalents per 25 cm2) and foam swabs (95% positive, GMT: 2.8 log10 EID50 equivalents per 25 cm2). The highest viral RNA loads were observed from the cage floor, and when the four locations were sampled with the same device. Overall, the pre‐moistened gauze performed the best, and sampling multiple locations within a cage with the same device would likely optimize detection of residual virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there has been an obvious lack of innovation within poultry houses heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system design that deals with both energy efficiency and poultry welfare issues. This paper presents an innovative and renewable heating system for poultry house application to meet the welfare living environment requirement for breeding, to improve the energy efficiency of HVAC system and to decrease fossil fuel consumption and harmful gas emissions. The purpose of this study is to design, develop and test the highly efficient hybrid heating system via an integrated photovoltaic/thermal array with polyethylene heat exchanger coupled to geothermal heat pump system based on the East Midlands' climate conditions in the UK. The numerical model is established based on finite volume method and solved by using Engineering Equation Solver, and a good agreement with less than 15% difference between the numerical and experimental results is achieved. The results indicate that the annual electrical and thermal output are 11867 kWh and 30245 kWh, respectively, which not only could fulfil the poultry house electrical need, but also can provide ~43.5% electricity demand of the heat pump compressor operating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work compares the performance of three passive cooling systems in meeting thermal and indoor air quality requirements in a poultry house located in semi-arid climate. The first two systems are a direct evaporative cooler and a cross-flow dew point evaporative cooler supplying air through a conventional tunnel ventilation that achieves uniform thermal and indoor air quality conditions. The third system is a dew-point evaporative cooler combined with a localised ventilation system to further reduce air and water consumption. To achieve these objectives, a modular analysis was adopted where mathematical models were developed for the evaporative coolers and the tunnel-ventilated poultry house module. Moreover, a computational fluid dynamics model was developed and experimentally validated for the compartment conditioned by the localised system. The evaporative coolers were sized and the hourly variation in the required fresh air and water supply was determined for the cooling season. Results of the economic analysis showed that the cost of the dew-point evaporative cooler was 6.8% lower than that of the direct evaporative cooling, with better compliance to poultry house thermal and air quality requirements. Using localised ventilation instead of conventional with the dew point apparatus further reduced costs by 4.7%, while achieving similar conditions of temperature and air quality. Image 1 • Novel poultry house ventilation design & sustainable cooling in semiarid climate. • DEC was inefficient in the afternoon due to high RH of 80% & high T of 28 °C. • DPIEC + typical ventilation met requirements all day with 52% less air + water than DEC. • DPIEC + novel localised ventilation met requirements with further reduction of 20%. • Economic analysis showed that DPIEC + localised was most profitable among the three. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avian Diseases is the property of American Association of Avian Pathologists, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Societal concern with the welfare of egg laying hens housed in conventional cages is fostering a transition towards cage-free systems in many countries. However, although cage-free facilities enable hens to move freely and express natural behaviours, concerns have also been raised over the possibility that cage-free flocks experience higher mortality, potentially compromising some aspects of their welfare. To investigate this possibility, we conducted a large meta-analysis of laying hen mortality in conventional cages, furnished cages and cage-free aviaries using data from 6040 commercial flocks and 176 million hens from 16 countries. We show that except for conventional cages, mortality gradually drops as experience with each system builds up: since 2000, each year of experience with cage-free aviaries was associated with a 0.35–0.65% average drop in cumulative mortality, with no differences in mortality between caged and cage-free systems in more recent years. As management knowledge evolves and genetics are optimized, new producers transitioning to cage-free housing may experience even faster rates of decline. Our results speak against the notion that mortality is inherently higher in cage-free production and illustrate the importance of considering the degree of maturity of production systems in any investigations of farm animal health, behaviour and welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations between animal health and performance, and the host's microbiota have been recently established. In poultry, changes in the intestinal microbiota have been linked to housing conditions and host development, but how the intestinal microbiota respond to environmental changes under farm conditions is less well understood. To gain insight into the microbial responses following a change in the host's immediate environment, we monitored four indoor flocks of adult laying chickens three times over 16 weeks, during which two flocks were given access to an outdoor range, and two were kept indoors. To assess changes in the chickens' microbiota over time, we collected cloacal swabs of 10 hens per flock and performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The poultry house (i.e., the stable in which flocks were housed) and sampling time explained 9.2 and 4.4% of the variation in the microbial community composition of the flocks, respectively. Remarkably, access to an outdoor range had no detectable effect on microbial community composition, the variability of microbiota among chickens of the same flock, or microbiota richness, but the microbiota of outdoor flocks became more even over time. Fluctuations in the composition of the microbiota over time within each poultry house were mainly driven by turnover in rare, rather than dominant, taxa and were unique for each flock. We identified 16 amplicon sequence variants that were differentially abundant over time between indoor and outdoor housed chickens, however none were consistently higher or lower across all chickens of one housing type over time. Our study shows that cloacal microbiota community composition in adult layers is stable following a sudden change in environment, and that temporal fluctuations are unique to each flock. By exploring microbiota of adult poultry flocks within commercial settings, our study sheds light on how the chickens' immediate environment affects the microbiota composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to stabilize the indoor relative humidity and temperature for the poultry house system. The control of these parameters appears as a big challenge due to the mutual interaction existing between the variables affecting the climate livestock building. To achieve this purpose, a developed independent PID controller based on Pareto optimality is proposed in conjunction with a multi-criterion genetic algorithm (MOGA). The broiler house model is decomposed into two independent single input single output (SISO) model using a static output feedback technique (SOF). Then, a multi-criterion genetic algorithm based on Pareto optimality is used to separately design the optimal parameters of the PID controller. The effectiveness of the developed controller is tested very successfully trough numerical simulations and comparison with the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Ziegler Nichols (ZN) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella Infantis is a major public health concern and has become established in the broiler sector in some European countries, as well as globally, and is frequently multidrug resistant (MDR). Three broiler farms in England and Wales, which had incursions of MDR S. Infantis between 2013 and 2017, were investigated longitudinally. The company feed mill and two associated hatcheries were intensively sampled. Following each visit, advice on cleaning, disinfection and other control measures for Salmonella was given to help eliminate S. Infantis from the premises. Four samples collected from inside the broiler houses after cleaning and disinfection were Salmonella-positive, indicating cleaning and disinfection within houses was generally effective. However, the exterior of persistently infected houses remained substantially contaminated and feeding systems could not be sampled. Clearance of S. Infantis from affected houses requires additional attention to decontamination of these aspects. Sixty S. Infantis isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion tests. All isolates were MDR, with resistance to at least nalidixic acid (Na), tetracycline (T), compound sulphonamide (Su), streptomycin (S) and furazolidone. This is a similar resistance pattern to the previously identified MDR (NaSSuT) clone in some European countries. The study shows that to remove S. Infantis from premises effectively, a combined approach to poultry houses and the surrounding farm environment is necessary. A revised cleaning and disinfection programme was developed that was associated with the clearance of MDR S. Infantis from persistently infected and newly infected broiler flocks, and UK livestock remains free of MDR S. Infantis. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Standard cleaning and disinfection protocols did not completely eliminate infection. A revised cleaning and disinfection programme was developed. Disinfecting feeder lines and external areas was key to eliminating S. Infantis. Identified similar antimicrobial resistance pattern to MDR epidemic S. Infantis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Soil Sciences & Agricultural Engineering is the property of Egyptian National Agricultural Library (ENAL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Exposure and the outbreak of diseases result in significant losses in large scale poultry operation. New ventilation systems are necessary to provide safe and homogenous internal environment at large enterprises, especially under the changeable climatic conditions of global warming. Within the framework of this investigation, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a side ventilation system in a poultry house during winter seasons has been conducted. As results, 3D temperature fields, current lines and pressures in a poultry house have been found. It has been determined that fresh air valves arranged at a height of 200 mm from flooring work better than those traditionally arranged at a height of 400 mm. The erection of walls on the inside of a poultry house framework as well as the decrease in the height of flooring improve poultry house aerodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry production significantly contributes to atmospheric ammonia (NH 3) emissions, causing concerns over their environmental impacts and the effects on human and bird health inside the poultry houses. A model is needed to estimate NH 3 emissions from poultry facilities in order to develop effective mitigation strategies and science-based regulations. The laboratory-scale mechanistic NH 3 emission model developed by Tong, Zhao, Heber, and Ni (2020) requires extensive monitoring and laboratory work for the inputs and therefore cannot be conveniently used by producers or regulatory agencies. Based on this mechanistic model, a farm-scale model was developed for estimating dynamic NH 3 emission rates from commercial manure-belt layer houses. Sub-models were developed to estimate the inputs of the mechanistic model from farm-scale conditions that are commonly known during poultry production. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and analyses of manure characteristics were used to estimate air conditions, manure properties, and NH 3 emission areas inside layer houses. The model estimated daily NH 3 emission from typical commercial manure-belt layer houses for given dates with input data consisting of hen inventory, ambient air temperature, house ventilation mode and rate, and manure management practices. Model performance was evaluated by comparison with NH 3 emission data from four commercial manure-belt layer houses with different ventilation systems. Uncertainties of 26–32% relative to the mechanistic model were obtained based on the uncertainties of individual sub-models along with their corresponding sensitivities. The model had an acceptable performance during ordinary egg production (p-value = 0.10–0.61), but it needs further development for special events such as moulting and introduction of new flocks. • A farm-scale model was developed for estimating NH 3 emission from US layer houses. • Cage air conditions were estimated using CFD simulations and linear interpolations. • Manure properties were estimated using polynomial regressions based on measurement. • The model had good performance for estimating daily NH 3 emission, but not hourly. • The 26–32% model uncertainty can be reduced with better manure pH estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry housing is chosen for the development because it has the highest portion of energy consumption. Solar energy and climate control systems are utilized for producing the highest productivity and conversion rate poultry housing comparing with the conventional methods. Thermal analysis of solar heating unit and photovoltaic is conducted to find out their thermal efficiencies. Experiments are conducted under the following conditions using three power operating systems [flat-plate solar collector + electricity (power operating), flat plate solar collector + photovoltaic and conventional system (depending on only electricity)] and fan stopping periods (2, 5 and 8 min). The poultry house performance was evaluated in terms of relative humidity, ammonia concentration, poultry production, feed conversion rate, required power and production cost. Based on the theoretical analysis, the efficiency of the solar heating system and photovoltaic cells was about 71.6% and 12.5%, respectively. Experimental results reveal that the optimum conditions for enhancing the poultry production (2.29 kg) with conversion rate (1.45 kg feed per kg gain), ammonia concentration at the fifth week (13.65 ppm), production cost (1.12 US $/kg) are achieved by using power operating system of flat-plate solar collector integrated with photovoltaic under 2 min fan stopping periods. • Develop poultry house to be operated by solar energy and climate control systems. • Compare the poultry house performance using two solar power operating systems (flat-plate solar collector and photovoltaic). • Study the effect of fan stopping periods on ammonia gas emission. • Evaluate the effect of using solar energy and climate control systems on poultry house performance economically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry production occupied a major role in the agriculture industry worldwide. Poultry housing design plays a vital role in determination of the internal climatic conditions for optimum health, growth and productive performance of the poultries. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the performance of different evaporative cooling systems with environmental control of poultry houses. The effect of two different evaporative cooling systems (direct and indirect) under three water flow rates of 2, 4 and 6 l/min.m2 on poultry houses performance was evaluated in terms of temperature reduction, relative humidity, evaporative cooling efficiency, poultry weight, consumed energy and cost. Experimental results revealed that using direct evaporative cooling system with 4 l/min.m2 water flow rate and indirect evaporative cooling system with 2 l/min.m2 water flow rate provided sufficient conditions of temperature reduction (9.59 and 7.28oC), relative humidity (63.88 and 61.21%), cooling efficiency (75.67 and 83.67 %), poultry weight (2.4 and 2.3 kg) and consumed energy (1.2 and 6 kW.day) with net return (7.54 and 5.80 LE/kg), in that order. Based on previously mentioned results, it is recommended to use direct evaporative cooling system for poultry houses as it minimizes both energy and cost requirements compared to the indirect evaporative cooling system, therefore it was found to be suitable for small rural farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Ciencia Animal - RECIA is the property of Revista Colombiana de Ciencia Animal - RECIA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agricola e Ambiental - Agriambi is the property of Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agricola e Ambiental and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Black chicken feathers generated in large amount from poultry and slaughter houses are highly recalcitrant to microbial degradation due to their tough structural nature. A novel keratinolytic bacterium that possessed high affinity for black feather was isolated from chicken manure and identified as Pseudochrobactrum sp. IY-BUK1. Keratinase and feather soluble protein were effectively produced by the free living cells of the bacterium in media containing only black feathers and a mixture of equal amount of black-, brown- and white-coloured feathers. Complete degradation of 5 g/L of black feathers was completed in 3 days following optimisation of physico-chemical conditions. However, the bacterium selectively completed the degradation of black feather in a medium containing mixture of feathers in 144 h leaving behind approximately 33% and 45% of brown and white feathers in the medium respectively. Gellan gum-immobilised cells of strain IY-BUK1 enhanced the keratinase production by about 150% and were used repeatedly for ten cycles to degrade 5 g/L of black feather in a semi continuous fermentation of 18 h per cycle with enhanced and stable production of soluble protein. The study demonstrated the potential use of Pseudochrobactrum sp. IY-BUK1 not only in biodegradation of highly recalcitrant black feathers, but also in producing keratinase enzymes and valuable soluble proteins for possible industrial usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High concentrations of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) in poultry houses is an important cause of respiratory disease in animals and humans. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can induce severe respiratory disease in animals under stress or with abnormal immune functions. When excessively high concentrations of PM2.5 in poultry houses damage the respiratory system and impair host immunity, secondary infections with P. aeruginosa can occur and produce a more intense inflammatory response, resulting in more severe lung injury. Objectives: In this study, we focused on the synergistic induction of inflammatory injury in the respiratory system and the related molecular mechanisms induced by PM2.5 and P. aeruginosa in poultry houses. Methods: High-throughput 16S rDNA sequence analysis was used for characterizing the bacterial diversity and relative abundance of the PM2.5 samples, and the effects of PM2.5 and P. aeruginosa stimulation on inflammation were detected by in vitro and in vivo. Results: Sequencing results indicated that the PM2.5 in poultry houses contained a high abundance of potentially pathogenic genera, such as Pseudomonas (2.94%). The lung tissues of mice had more significant pathological damage when co-stimulated by PM2.5 and P. aeruginosa, and it can increase the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-a through nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway in vivo and in vitro. Conclusions: The results confirmed that poultry house PM2.5 in combination with P. aeruginosa could aggravate the inflammatory response and cause more severe respiratory system injuries through a process closely related to the activation of the NF-κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to analyze the magnitude and spatial variability of environmental variables: Temperature and Relative Humidity Index (THI), Radiant Thermal Load (RTL), Globe Temperature and Relative Humidity Index (BGTH) and Enthalpy (H), inside a house for laying hens, in the state of Antioquia (Colombia) during the month of August. A traditional Colombian poultry house with natural ventilation was used. All variables were manually measured at equally spaced 1.0×1.0 m points, totaling 99 data collection points inside the poultry house. Geostatistical techniques were used through semivariogram analysis, and isochore maps were generated through data interpolation by kriging. The semivariogram was fitted by the restricted maximum likelihood method. The used mathematical model was the spherical one. After adjusting the semivariograms, the data were interpolated by ordinary kriging. The semivariograms and the isochore maps allowed identifying the non-uniformity of the spatial distribution of all evaluated variables throughout the poultry house. The results show that THI, RTL, BGTH and, H presented values above the comfort limits in the most significant part of the poultry house during the observed period. It is possible to concluded that the use of natural ventilation alone was not sufficient to guarantee the homeothermy conditions for the layers. Thus, it is suggested that in addition to natural ventilation, secondary modifications should be used to improve farm productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Availability and expense of preferred bedding materials such as pine shavings has prompted evaluation of other materials. Grass hay derived from high-yielding biomass cultivars has been successfully employed as bedding material in both research and commercial applications. Grass hay for ruminant feed can be stored outdoors if protected, and outdoor storage may provide additional flexibility in transportation and supply of grass hay bedding. This study examined live performance in straight-run broilers reared on new grass hay bedding and grass hay bedding that had been stored outdoors in polyethylene wrap for 2 seasons. Live performance was affected primarily in the starter and grower phases, with stored hay bedding treatments resulting in depressed BW (59 g difference; P = 0.0034) and body weight gain (58 g difference; P = 0.0038) in the grower phase. FCR was significantly elevated in both the starter phase (0.02 g:g difference; P = 0.0052) and the grower phase (0.07 g:g difference; P, 0.0001) for the stored hay bedding treatment. Overall flock FCR was significantly increased (P = 0.0404) by 0.05 g:g for the stored hay bedding treatment. Performance declines diminished during the finisher and withdrawal diet phases, likely because of a reduction in litter consumption. Mortality was not different between treatments (N = 1.06% and S = 1.57%); stored hay did not appear to affect bird health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry farming is one of energy intensive industries that consume large amount of energy to provide the suitable indoor environment for chicken health and production like meat and eggs. Currently, there are extensive researches and practices of applying renewable and sustainable energy technologies to poultry farming to achieve energy saving and carbon dioxide emission reduction. Therefore, it is worth to retrospect the state-of-the-art development and summarize the key features in this field. The main technologies include photovoltaic (PV), solar collector, hybrid PV/Thermal, thermal energy storage, ground/water/air sources heat pumps, lighting and radiant heating. It is found that up to 85% energy saving can be achieved by using these advanced technologies in comparison to the traditional poultry houses with a payback time of 3–8 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Iraqi Poultry Sciences Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Poultry houses emit large amounts of pollutants, e.g., ammonia and particulate matter (PM), that can affect public health, environment, and quality-of-life, due to odor. Poultry producers need low-cost and low-pressure treatments that can be compatible with existing ventilation systems. The porous windbreak wall coupled with a vegetative strip seems promising as it dissipates exhaust gases and traps PM (as well as adsorbed gases) on the screen, soil surface, as well as in the vegetation. Different windbreak wall-vegetative strip system designs were evaluated to treat the exhaust from 0.9-m fans in two types of layer house, for their abilities to reduce pollutant and odor emissions. The porous chamfered-shape windbreak wall with a footprint length of 3 fan diameters proved the most effective in reducing emissions. Even with a low system pressure of ~ 5 Pa, it greatly reduced odor, by 79% at 10 m and 59% at 5 m. It reduced TSP emissions moderately, by an average of 41%, while ammonia emissions were reduced slightly (by 21%). The chamfered screen was more readily cleaned by rainfall given the sticky nature of poultry house exhaust than the vertical screen. Overall, this low-cost, retrofittable, and modular system with a small footprint could be used by layer producers and, probably, by other poultry producers to reduce their emissions, alone or in combination with other mitigation methods to obtain greater reduction in emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse effects of air emissions from animal feeding operations (AFOs) on public health, environment, and quality-of-life have been well-documented. Regulations or lawsuits may force AFOs to reduce their air emissions. Since livestock barn particulate matter (PM) has relatively high particle density and diameter and many gasses adsorb onto PM, its filtration might reduce air emissions. A porous windbreak wall that imposes acceptable backpressure (< 12.5 Pa) and covers the fan could be a promising option. Seventy-two different porous windbreak wall scenarios were modeled to compare their backpressure on the fan as well as average airspeed over the ground. These scenarios were combinations of shape (box, chamfered, curved), size (lengths of 2, 2.5, and 3 fan diameters), presence or absence of an opening (opened and closed), screen porosity (mosquito screen or clean screen, SunBlocker 70% or clogged screen), and fan angle and height. Backpressure and airspeed decreased with increasing windbreak wall length. Generally, the box-shaped windbreak wall had lower backpressure and airspeeds than the other shapes. The increased backpressure with clogged screen even at two fan diameters (2d) was acceptable. The tilted fan commonly used in poultry houses had higher backpressure and airspeed over the ground than the non-tilted fan used in swine houses due to the former's lower surface area and tilt towards the ground. Overall, taking into account cost considerations and footprint size (for retrofittability), despite its higher airspeed over the ground (vs. larger footprints) and modest reduction in airflow rate, the 2d, open box model seems the most promising option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's poultry industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in the construction of many new production facilities. It is important to maintain optimum environmental conditions for a profitable production. In this study, temperature, relative humidity and air velocity distribution inside a broiler house were analysed. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations (numerical method) and direct measurements (experimental method) were used to determine the appropriate indoor environmental conditions. Simulated values were validated by comparison with the measured values using the normalised mean square error (NMSE). The measured and predicted parameters of temperature, relative humidity and air velocity at birds' height, human height, and roof height upon comparison gave average NMSE values of 0.139, 0.181 and 0.090, respectively. The results showed a good agreement between simulated and measured values as obtained NMSE values were less than 0.25. In conclusion, CFD simulation can be used as an alternative method for the analysis of poultry house indoor environment. A better understanding of indoor environment conditions in poultry house provides useful information for manufacturers and end users for better management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the performance of an Earth Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) to improve the indoor conditions of an industrial poultry building after its installation, considering the optimal position and installation configuration (separate or collected inlets), which have not been addressed previously. In this regard, an industrial broiler house containing 20,000 chickens equipped with four cooling pads operated by a mechanical ventilation system located in Biskra, Algeria, was simulated with six scenarios, including the original. The model developed is verified with the field test measurements and experimental and numerical data in the literature. The results showed that optimizing the cooling pad position increases average indoor air temperature and velocity distribution by 0.1% and 8%, respectively. Moreover, the position and configuration of installing the EAHE inlets play an important role in uniforming indoor air distribution. Scenario 3, with 80 EAHE inlets versus exhaust fans, has the best indoor air uniformity, with a maximum velocity and temperature difference between its sections of 1.15 m s−1 and 1.4 K, respectively. Overall, EAHE showed a good ability to cool and maintain appropriate indoor air temperatures, achieving a difference of 15 °C between inside and outside, in addition to providing annual energy savings of 921,600 kWh/year and reducing 30,643 tons of CO 2 emissions during its lifespan, in contrast, its simple payback time estimated 4 years. • The contribution of an earth air heat exchanger in improving the indoor conditions of a poultry house. • Simulate the potential design, position, and installation configuration scenarios. • Installing the earth air heat exchanger improved the indoor temperature and velocity. • The third scenario is the optimal design for indoor air uniformity. • The simple payback period of the earth air heat exchanger is four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor air temperature and humidity moisture are of the foremost significance in climate control of broilers houses, and their impacts on poultry health and production depend on accurate control. The main objective of this work is to identify and assess a novel state-space model, to rapidly predict the hygro-thermal behavior of the livestock building. To achieve this analysis, various experimental measurements (e.g., ventilation rate, thermal heating, and air temperature and humidity) of two commercial poultry houses placed in the Mediterranean zone were monitored over cold conditions production cycle. The developed model was estimated and validated against a dataset of 25 days acquired under three different operation ventilation modes (min-ven, power and tunnel modes). Through simulation, the results showed that the predicted model and measured data were achieved a satisfactory accuracy with an averaged coefficients of determination R2 were 0.93 and 0.95, respectively, for the indoor air temperature and humidity models, and a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.3213 °C and 0.957 %. Additionally, the predictive model shows satisfying performances for the long horizon prediction with a final prediction error (FPE) equal to 0.084, which will prevent the intensely time-consuming process of getting precise physical parameters in regards the poultry house system. • A prediction error method (PEM) was developed for forecasting indoor hygro-thermal parameters in a poultry house. • The state space model provided the best results during the operating conditions. • The model-based PEM ensures better precision with the monitored values under the various ventilation modes. • Valuable reference for the farmers to predict and control the poultry house production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The isolation of cultivable E. cecorum from the environment of poultry houses remains a challenge. Environmental samples (dust wipes, equipment swabs, pooled feces) and samples from culled bird vertebras were collected from an infected broiler flock on d 37 posthatching. To isolate the bacterium from the cultivable microbiota, suspensions from the environmental samples were streaked onto a blood agar base medium supplemented with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-glucuronic acid cyclohexylammonium salt (X-Gluc), colistin sulfate, and nalidixin. The chromogenic reaction facilitated the isolation of E. cecorum from contaminated surfaces and pooled feces. Isolates from both the environment and vertebras were confirmed using MALDI-TOF and PCR analysis. Colony appearance and antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed no phenotypic differences among the isolates. It remained unclear whether the isolates originated from the same clone. However, the principle of isolating the pathogen by streaking on a chromogenic agar may motivate researchers to investigate the transmission routes of infectious isolates, potentially leading to the optimization of biosecurity measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) is well-known for its highly potent antibacterial properties and safe residue-free nature. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted on 2 disinfection methods for waterline cleaning in poultry houses: (1) continuously add SAEW into the waterline and (2) the conventional waterline disinfection method, which includes regular use of high-concentration chemical disinfectant for soaking the waterline and flushing with water. The evaluation focused on the effects of these methods on bacteria levels in laying hens' drinking water, the fecal normal rate of laying hens, egg quality, as well as the economic costs and water footprint associated with each method. The results show that the inhibition rate of the control group was 52.45% to 80.36%, which used 1500 mg/L sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCNa) for soaking and then flushing with water. The bacterial levels in the waterline returned to pre-treatment levels 26 h after cleaning. However, the experimental group with an available chlorine concentration (ACC) of 0.3 mg/L SAEW showed a higher inhibition rate (99.90%) than the control group (P < 0.05) and exhibited a sustained antimicrobial effect. Regarding eggshell thickness, eggshell strength, and Haugh units of the egg, there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups. However, the experimental group had higher egg weight and darker yolk color (P < 0.05) than those of the control group. Besides, the experimental group exhibited a higher fecal normal rate and a lower water footprint than those of the control group. Hence, SAEW represents a favorable choice for disinfecting drinking water in poultry houses due to its ease of preparation, lack of residue, energy efficiency, and efficient antibacterial properties. To ensure adequate sanitation, it is recommended to incorporate SAEW with an ACC of 0.3 mg/L into the daily management of the drinking water system for laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is part of a 2 year disease surveillance project conducted to establish the prevalence of poultry and zoonotic pathogens, including Campylobacter spp., among small poultry flocks in Ontario, Canada. For each post-mortem submission to the Animal Health Laboratory, a pooled sample of cecal tissue was cultured for Campylobacter spp., and a husbandry and biosecurity questionnaire was completed by the flock owner (n = 153). Using both laboratory and questionnaire data, our objective was to investigate demographic, husbandry, and biosecurity factors associated with the presence of Campylobacter spp. in small flocks. Two multivariable logistic regression models were built. In the farm model, the odds of Campylobacter spp. were higher in turkeys, and when birds were housed in a mixed group with different species and/or types of birds. The odds were lower when antibiotics were used within the last 12 months, and when birds had at least some free-range access. The effect of pest control depended on the number of birds at risk. In the coop model, the odds of Campylobacter spp. were lower when owners wore dedicated clothing when entering the coop. These results can be used to limit the transmission of Campylobacter spp. from small poultry flocks to humans.

There are legal requirements for poultry husbandry, which are often based on an analogy between humans and birds. Unsuitable lighting conditions can lead to behavioural deviations such as feather pecking. Animal-friendly husbandry requires knowledge of the bird's eyesight and the technical requirements derived from this. The retina contains 2 types of photoreceptors (rods, cones), of which the cones are involved in colour vision. Humans have 3 types of cones that react most sensitively to the 3 primary colours red, green and blue. Thus, through additive colour mixing, "white" light is perceived when the 3 cones are stimulated simultaneously. Birds have at least one additional type of cone that enables the perception of ultraviolet (UV-A) light. Consequently, it can be assumed that birds only perceive "white" light when the incoming light contains a UV-A component. If a colour is missing from the light spectrum, so-called "false colour vision" can occur, as illustrated in figure 1. Reflection and absorption of light can cause objects to appear in other colours: for example, a red button appears red under "white" light, but black under monochromatic "green" light. In contrast to sunlight, artificial light sources usually do not contain any UV-A component, so that poultry lack at least one colour to complement their visual spectrum. As a result, "false colour vision" can occur when poultry is moving between outside (free range) and inside (house) areas or when moving pullets from the rearing to the laying house when using different types of lamps e.g., fluorescent lamps and LEDs. Thus, changing light conditions can induce "stress" and result in behavioural deviations. Due to the higher avian spectral sensitivity (approx. 320 - 780 nm) compared to human spectral sensitivity (approx. 400 - 750 nm), poultry perceives the housing environment brighter than humans, so that the light intensity cannot be evaluated with the unit lux. The merging of individual light stimuli into a continuous stream of light is referred to as the flicker fusion frequency. Depending on the brightness, this can reach around 119 Hz in birds. When the emitted frequency of lamps is below the flicker fusion frequency of poultry, the lighting is perceived as flickering. Therefore, lamps for barn lighting are recommended that emit at least a frequency of 160 Hz and are therefore considered flicker-free for poultry. Due to the superior avian eyesight, measurement parameters and devices that are adjusted to human vision cannot be used to assess lighting conditions for poultry. The basis of an animal-friendly housing environment is, among other things, the use of species-specific units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil is the largest broiler meat exporter in the world. This important economic activity generates income in different branches of the production chain. However, the decomposition of residues incorporated in the poultry litter generates several gases, among them ammonia. When emitted from the litter to the air, ammonia can cause several damages to animals and man, in addition to being able to convert into a greenhouse gas. Thus, the aim of this article was to carry out a review of the ammonia emission factors in the production of broilers, the methodologies for measuring, and the inventories of emissions already carried out in several countries. The main chemical processes for generating ammonia in poultry litter have been introduced and some practices that can contribute to the reduction of ammonia emissions have been provided. The PMU, Portable Monitoring Unit, and the SMDAE, Saraz Method for Determination of Ammonia Emissions, with the required adaptations, are methodologies that can be used to quantify the ammonia emissions in hybrid facilities with a natural and artificial ventilation system. An ammonia emission inventory can contribute to the control and monitoring of pollutant emissions and is an important step towards adopting emission reductions. However, quantifying the uncertainties about ammonia emission inventories is still a challenge to be overcome.

Plumage damage represents one of the animal-based measures of laying hens welfare. Damage occurs predominantly due to age, environment and damaging pecking. IR thermography, due to its non-invasiveness, objectivity and repeatability is a promising alternative to feather damage scoring systems such as the system included in the Welfare QualityR assessment protocol for poultry. The aim of this study was to apply IR thermography for the assessment of feather damage in laying hens kept in two housing systems and to compare the results with feather scoring. At the start of the experiment, 16-week-old laying hens (n=30) were divided into two treatments such as deep litter pen and enriched cage. During 4 months, feather damage was assessed regularly in 2-week intervals. One more single assessment was done nine and a half months after the start of the experiment. The feather damage on four body regions was assessed by scoring and IR thermography: head and neck, back and rump, belly, and underneck and breast. Two variables obtained by IR thermography were used: the difference between the body surface temperature and ambient temperature (ΔTB) and the proportion of featherless areas, which were defined as areas with a temperature >33.5°C. Data were analyzed using a GLM model. The effects of housing, time, region and their interactions on feather damage, measured by the feather scoring and by both IR thermography measures, were all significant (P

This study investigated poultry slaughter house waste management in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts of Kerala. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that was administered to 30 randomly selected slaughter house owners of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. Data were analysed using standard deviation, frequency and percentage methodologies. Results showed that average amount of waste produced per bird was 721.67 gram and the average total waste produced per day per slaughter house was 21.83 kilogram. The owners were sold the waste at the rate of Rupees seven per kilogramto agents. They were utilizing the waste as fertilizer, pig feed, fish feed, dog feed and for biogas production. This study showed that the poultry slaughter house owners were bothered about proper waste management techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small scale poultry production plays a major role in bridging the protein deficit and sustain rural livelihood in Nigeria. A study was conducted to estimate the technical and scale efficiencies of quail (Cortunix coturnix japonica) production a strategy toward the provision of sustainable animal protein in Nigerian diets. Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) was used to sieve efficient and inefficient quail farmers and established optimize energy. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire administered to 193 quail farmers comprising of 78 battery cage system (BCS) and 115 deep litter system (DLS) operators using a multi-stage random sampling procedure. The result showed that feed, fuels and electricity gulps 63.38, 24.53 and 7.76 % of the total energy input in BCS production unit and equally constituted 65.16, 23.97 and 5.32 % in the DLS production unit. Both BCS (65.71 %) and DLS (67.90 %) used more renewable energy compared with non-renewable component. The net energy of both quail production units were positive, hence energy were gained. The results revealed that the total energy use that could be saved by converting the present units to optimal conditions were 7.80 and 6.76 % for BCS and DLS respectively. The BCS farms thrive better compared with DLS considering the results of the three efficiency parameters. The renewable energy inputs usage must be sustain and if possible increase in both sectors in order to improve the low energy productivity and increase energy output and invariably return to quail farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A CFD model was developed for airflow, thermal condition, and NH 3 level simulation. • Ventilation operations have significant effects on indoor environment distribution. • Heat stress was severe in summer even though maximum ventilation was applied. • Layers and workers are safe regarding NH 3 exposure in all seasons. • Potential solutions for improving indoor environment of the house are suggested. Ammonia (NH 3) is a major gaseous pollutant in poultry houses and adversely affects production performance and the health of layers and workers. Knowledge of three-dimensional (3D) spatial distribution and seasonal variation of indoor environment inside layer houses is crucial to assess the risks and seek for optimization. This study developed a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model and simulated the airflow, thermal environment, and NH 3 concentration distributions inside a commercial manure-belt layer house retrofitted from a high-rise deep-pit layer house. With current ventilation, the average air temperatures in bird zone were 31.9 ± 2.2°C, 30.4 ± 2.5°C, and 29.1 ± 4.3°C; the average ammonia concentrations were 5.27±2.88, 3.37±0.94, and 7.13±2.02 ppm; and heat stress was found in 100%, 87.7%, and 62.9% cages in summer, fall, and winter, respectively. Higher temperatures and NH 3 concentrations were observed in air stagnation zones, such as centers of circulating airflows and the spaces near the end walls. The layers stocked on the lower floor were exposed to 1.1–2.7 °C higher temperature and 22–43% higher NH 3 level than those on the upper floor due to 33–94% larger local mean age of air (LMA) caused by a concrete middle floor. The locations of operating exhaust fans were found to significantly affect the indoor environmental conditions. Regarding NH 3 exposure, the layers were safe in all seasons according to 25 ppm threshold concentration recommended by United Egg Producers. Workers were safe for a 15-min exposure but might be at potential risks in winter with an 8-hr exposure based on threshold of 35 ppm during any 15-min period and 25 ppm for 8-hr exposure suggested by NIOSH. These results can be used to establish operation guideline for retrofitted layer houses to enhance the health of birds and farmers and egg production performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Acta Agriculturae Serbica is the property of University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Agronomy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study was set out with the aim of assessing the effects of the most commonly available commercial disinfectants on embryogenesis of A. columbae eggs. In addition to the distilled water treatment as a control group, four disinfectants were tested that included formalin, povidone iodide, TH4, and Virkon-S, in three independent experiments. In the first experiment, an overnight incubation with the working concentration of disinfectants resulted in significant inhibition of 80%, 85%, and 98% of embryonic development at day 9 post-treatment with formalin, povidone iodide, and TH4, respectively. This inhibition was continued through days 12 and 15 with the three tested disinfectants. Virkon-S did not affect embryogenesis with larval development comparable to that of the control group. In the second more dissected experiment, contact times of 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes were set out for each disinfectant with embryogenesis inhibition results echoed that of the first experiment, with all disinfectants but Virkon-S inhibited larval development in significant proportions of eggs. Again, Virkon-S was very neutral in its effect on embryogenesis. When pigeon fecal matters were mixed with eggs and were subjected to disinfectants, discrepancies to results of the first two experiments were observed with only formalin inhibited embryogenesis in considerable proportion of eggs. Thus, and with the exception of Virkon-S, disinfectants tested at levels similar to those applicable in poultry in-houses and farms exhibited potent ovicidal activities on free eggs. To our knowledge, this is the first study involving the application of the commonly used in-poultry houses disinfectants to inactivate or delay the embryogenesis of bird Ascarids. The future perspective will potentially involve the in-field applications of the efficient disinfectants to eliminate or reduce the dissemination of infections with bird Ascarids in the chicken, turkey, pigeons, and other poultry houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry suffer from large temperature variations with traditional tunnel ventilation and wet-pad evaporative cooling (TV) system in continental climates, which negatively influences production performance, resulting in significant economic losses. An ideal ventilation system is desired for retrofitted and new poultry houses. A new ventilation (NV) system was designed to mitigate the air temperature variations and improve the uniformity in poultry houses located in continental climate regions. The evaporative cooling pads were installed on both sidewalls and exhaust fans were located on a gable wall in the NV system. The system could be operated in different modes for daytime and night time by automatically running or not running evaporative cooling according to indoor set-point temperature. The performance of the NV system was evaluated in comparison with a TV system by measuring the thermal environment and layer performance of two commercial poultry houses with different ventilation systems. The results showed that the NV system provided a cooler air environment than the TV system, and the maximum fluctuation in average air temperature was reduced to 1 °C vs. 6.1 °C in TV system. Based on temperature-humidity heat stress index (THI) values, compared to the TV system, the NV system reduced heat stress time across the building in horizontal and vertical planes. The egg production was higher in the NV system house than in the TV system house (20.3% vs 18.9%), and the mean bird's mass in NV system house was 21 g higher than in TV system house. • Evaporative cooling pads of new ventilation system were installed in commercial house. • The new ventilation system provided a cooler air environment than the traditional system. • The new ventilation (NV) system reduced temperature-humidity heat stress index values. • Egg production was higher in the NV house than in the traditional system (TV) house. • The mean bird mass was 21 g higher in the NV house than in the TV house. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]