Thermal environment of masonry-walled poultry house in the initial life stage of broilers

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to monitor and evaluate the thermal environment and undertake a complete mapping of the variables air temperature, air relative humidity, and temperature-humidity index for broilers. The research was conducted during the winter, in Brazil, in a commercial poultry house fully walled with concrete-block masonry, equipped with a full-time negative-pressure mechanized ventilation system and indoor-environment air heating by a wood-burning furnace located outside the facility. The shed was fully automated and housed 30,000 birds at a density of 15 birds m-2. Thermal-environment data analysis revealed that the masonry-wall model did not ensure homogeneous thermal distribution within the poultry house, with the central region showing the highest air temperature and lowest air relative humidity values. The indoor environment did not provide thermal comfort to the housed birds, which were under thermal discomfort in certain situations in some internal regions of the shed.