Poultry House Environmental Control and Energy Conservation

Question of the Week:

Should timer fans settings be reduced on cold rainy days to reduce the amount of moisture pulled into a house?

Answer: No. To learn more click here

Picture of the Week:

LED lighting system

Video of the Week:

New four way Eagan Mfg. counterwieighted attic inlet in action (currently being tested).

Click here to see the video

New Product Currently Being Field Tested

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best! This screw in T-adapter (Retrolite 800-657-0509) allows a producer to choose, with a simple pull of a string, to use either bulb or both. You can install a 18 watt non-dimmable fluoresce>nt light for brooding and a dimmable fluorescent 15 watt or possibly an 8 watt cold cathode bulb for the growout period when lower light levels are often required. At a minimal cost (less than $10) you can have about any light intensity you want and reduce your lighting costs 70% or more over using traditional incandescent bulbs. The picture to the right is a test unit. On the final product the switch is totally encolosed. We will keep you informed on the progress of our study.

We are currently evaluating a new type of insuated fan covers. It is hoped that the easy to install covers will reduce leakage and condensation problems that can prove costly during cold weather.

Poultry Houses From Around The World

Ring brooding (Caribbean)

Did you know?

LED light fixtures are no more energy efficient than compact fluorescent fixtures? In fact, in many instances they are less energy efficient at producing light than are compact fluorescents.

Case in point...

The above pictured LED flood light produces 725 lumens of light and uses 21 watts of power (35 lumens per watt). The above compact fluorescent flood light produces 750 lumens with only 15 watts of power ( 50 lumens per watt). Yes, the LED is easily dimmable but, it is 30% less energy efficient compared to the compact fluorescent bulb and costs significantly more ($70 vs $5).

New Research Projects

Poultry House Structural Failure Analysis

To learn about this project and others click here.

Tips From Growers

Kobus Steenkamp - South Africa

"One of the things we do When we recieve day old chicks sometime some flocks needs to be encourage to start drinking and eating so what we do is we walk the chicks every 1 hour .

As soon as you walk them and you turn back you can immediatly see that they are now drinking and eating but you need a photo to go with that .

Secondly I try to keep my temperature band within 1.5 to 2 degree (2.5 - 3.5 F ) within setpoint the first 7 days. In other words if setpoint is 33 degrees (91.5 F) the minimum shall be 32.3 C (90 F) and maximum would be 33.8 C (93 F).

Attic Inlet Operation Tip

To get the most out of an attic inlet system it is important to realize that they should be operated at generally lower operating static pressures than tradiional side wall inlets (i.e, 0.05 - 0.08"). There are a number of reasons for this. First, the air entering through atttic inlets is being introduced where the hottest air tends to accumulate, namely at the peak of the ceiling. With side wall inlets a relatively high static pressure is often required get the cold outside all the way to the center of the house. Second, since attic inlets tend to throw air better than most traditional side wall inlets excessive static pressures can lead to drafty side walls. Last but not least when attic inlets are controlled by a machine the higher the static pressure the lower the amount of fresh air will enter through the attic and the more air that will enter through cracks in the side wall. How is this true? Lets say you had 10 square feet of cracks in the side walls. As you raise the static pressure setting for the attic inlets they will close but the opening/cracks in the side walls will stay the same. As a result a higher percentage of the fresh air will enter through cracks and a lower the percentage of warmed/fresh air will enter through the attic inlets.

Side Wall Inlet Operation Tip

To keep fuel usage to a minimum it is crucial that all your side wall inlets open the same amount. As seen in the above thermal image, inlets opening too much in the center and not enough on the ends, can lead to the heaters towards the center of the house running to heat the house fighting the exhaust fans on the ends trying to cool the house. In addition, the air quality will tend to be very poor near the ends of the house leading to possible bird heath issues.