Supplemental table for "Adaptation and Validation of the CO2 Balance Method for Ventilation Rate Estimation in Laying Hen Houses"

This study aims to adapt and validate the carbon dioxide (CO2) balance method for VR prediction in laying hen houses. The adaptation was based on the CO2 balance method from the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), which considers variables such as the CO2 production rate of hens (PRCO2), animal activity (AA), and the respiratory quotient of laying hens (RQ).The resulting adaptations included setting AA to 1, RQ to 0.9 during the day and 0.85 at night, and PRCO2 to 18% during the day and 8% at night. The adjusted model demonstrated an R2 of 0.63 for VR prediction when the difference between exhaled and inlet CO2 was less than 150 ppm. At the experimental level, all evaluated housing systems showed an R2 greater than 0.63 and an average RMSE of 0.35 m3 h-1 hen-1. At the commercial level, housing systems exhibited an average predicted R2 of 0.71 and an RMSE of 1.68 m3 h-1 hen-1. The adapted CO2 balance method presented good predictive values across laboratory and commercial experiments.