Managing Poultry House

Ventilation In Pakistan

Dr A.R Shaukat
Dr Arbab khurshid Ahmad
Dr Waseem Abbas

We rear poultry because

of
Rapid growth:
Birds are genetically improved to gain maturity in short
period of time to fulfill global protein requirement.
Cheapest source of protein:
Improved feed conversions and modern techniques
have made it possible to reduce costs to make available
low priced high nutritive quality protein in market.
Availability:

Due to high rearing density and rapid growth,

Higher production are obtained per unit space as
compared to other live stocks.

Poultry housing
Hens naturally were wild birds.
Domesticated with passing time to full fill human protein

requirement.
Since ages backyard poultry is part of human civilization.
With rapid increase in human population, the demand for
protein increased enormously which is met by improving
birds efficiency genetically.
To manage large numbers we confined them.
Conventional farms were initially built with less width so
that air may cross through natural air current.
Conventional houses worked a lot in moderate climatic
zones but factors like increase in disease load, noxious
gases, improper control of temperature, decreased
efficiency were questions to be answered.
Single answer to all these questions was Modern
Environmentally controlled house.

Poultry house ventilation is

necessary because
Birds need good environment.
We need more fresh air to full fill the needs due to

higher metabolic rate of birds.

We need more fresh air to full fill the needs due to
higher stock densities.
We want to expel excessive heat if any.
We need dry litter despite high density.
We want to expel noxious gases e.g. ammonia.
Ventilation in a poultry house supplies fresh air that is
essential to sustain life. It also helps reduce the
extremes of temperature, humidity and air
contamination to tolerable limits for confined chickens

Environmental conditions in
Pakistan
We are dependant upon the environmental conditions i.e.

climate of the region in which farm is to be constructed.

Due to the location,Pakistan Climateis temperate.
Pakistan has four seasons:
A cool, dry winter from December through February.
A hot, dry spring from March through May.
The summer rainy season, from June through September.
The fall is a retreating monsoon period of October and

November.
The onset and duration of these seasons vary somewhat

according to location.

Extreme temperatures and

humidity in Pakistan
Climate of Pakistan has great regional variation.
The difference in temperature between day and night is

immensely substantial.
The Extremely hot temperature may go up to 45C to

50+C in the summers.

The Extremely low temperature may comes to 0C or
even less in the winters.
Humidity ranges between 10% to 100%.
Points of concern are Extreme temperatures and Humidity.

Ventilation systems
Generally divided into two types:
(1) Natural air flow system
Natural air currents are allowed to enter into the

house.
Fit for areas where outside temperature does not
exceed 33C.
House width may be maximum around 30 feet for
this system.
Conventional farms are built on this principle
Not best fit for our conditions.
(2) Mechanical air movement (fans).
Mechanical air movement is required to ventilate a
house in all climatic conditions.This system suits our

Positive pressure
System:
In the positive pressure system, fans are

arranged to push fresh air in to the building.

Creates air velocity which produces wind chill
effect.
For rearing at higher stock densities in
extreme climatic conditions this system is not
very much effective.

Negative Pressure system:

In the negative pressure system, fans are

arranged to expel air from the building. In doing

so, they create a partial vacuum or negative
pressure inside the house. The pressure
difference pulls fresh air through inlets into the
house.
The location, distribution and size of the fans
and inlets are critical if all areas of the house are
to be ventilated.
We may term this system best fit for our climatic
conditions.

Negative pressure system operation

in different weathers
To discuss this system in changing climatic

conditions we may mainly divide it in to;

1-Cold Weather Ventilation (Minimum

ventilation)
2-Hot Weather Ventilation(Tunnel
ventilation)
3-Optimum weather ventilation
(Transitional ventilation)

Minimum Ventilation
Minimum ventilation is used to provide fresh air inside the

house during cold weather. It removes excessive moisture

and minimize the heat loss.
Fans exhaust air out of the house by creating a slight
negative pressure inside the house. Due to the negative
pressure, fresh air is pulled into the house through some
planned air inlets.
The air inlets are installed either in the ceiling or high on the
house side wall. These inlets are designed to direct air across
the ceiling allowing it to mix with warmer air located there
and to heat up before coming into contact with the birds.
Check temperature and determine the heating necessity.
Doing this will help to minimize heating costs. For large scale
commercial production, you can install automatic computer
controllers.

Objectives of minimum
ventilation
Provide fresh air containing oxygen and

exhaust ammonia, carbon dioxide and other

gases.
Provide an adequate air exchange to control
moisture.
Get rid of excessive heat if any.
Provide an in house airflow pattern that avoid
chilling birds.
Reduction in fuel cost by minimizing heat loss.

Modern house:
Tools of minimum ventilation
To achieve the objectives of minimum

ventilation, certain tools are required based

on scientific principles.
Most important tools are exhaust fans and air
inlets(vents) and other accessories to operate
fans and vents properly.
If we construct a new house we may have the
knowledge that how many fans and vents may
be installed in that house.

Exhaust fans
Expel air out of
the building. In
market there are
different types of
fans available with
varying capacity.
Normally for
minimum
ventilation 9000
CFM capacity fans
are used but we
may also use fans
of any capacity.

Calculation:
number of fans for a house
Though this topic belongs to tunnel ventilation but to

ensure continuity we have to discuss # of fans to be

installed in a house first. Formula to calculate number of
fans is as follows.
No Of Fans = Cross Section x Desired velocity
CFM of one fan

(Cross section= width * height of the house)

Desired velocity in our climatic conditions must be more

than length of the house to get less than 1 minute air

change.
CFMs of air expelled by a single fan depends upon the size
and efficiency of fan recommended by the manufacturer.

Tools of minimum ventilation

Controllers: It is an
electronic device that
collect information from
different sensors and
execute scheduled tasks.
Static pressure switch
provide information to
controller and controller
operates power track to
open or close vents
accordingly.

Inlets(vents): fresh air is

pulled into the house through
vents. Vents are distributed
through out the house in
uniform pattern. Number of
vents depends upon size of
vent and 40% of total capacity
of fans installed in house so
that air may pass at a velocity
of 700 Feet per minute .

Calculation;
Number of vents for a house
Area for vents=Total no of fans x cfm of one fan x 40%
700 f.p.m
Total no of vents=total area for vents

Area of one vent

(40% of total ventilation is maximum limit of

minimum ventilation).
(Air should pass across the vent at a speed of 700
fpm).
We can purchase vent of any dimension from market.
Greater the area of vent, Less would be the number of
vents and vice versa which are supposed to be
installed in house uniformly.

Tools of minimum ventilation

Static pressure sensor:
sensor is installed with
controller to sense static
pressure and give feed
back to controller so that it
may open or close the vent
according to static pressure
to avoid chilling.

Power track : it is an
electrical device attached
mechanically to vents
and on the information of
controller, Operates the
vents according to the
static pressure.

Minimum ventilation:
Tools working sequence
Tunnel Fans : Of
Min. Ventilation Fans : on
Cooling Pad : Closed
Vents : Open
Evaporative Cooling : Of
Tunnel door : Closed

Lethal and desirable level of

gases.
One of the most

important objective of
minimum ventilation is
to remove gases in
order to provide
quality air to birds.
Three primary air
quality variables are of
utmost importance.
Carbon dioxide,
Humidity,
Ammonia.

Table 1. Common gas levels in

poultry houses
Gas
Carbon
Dioxide

Symb
ol
CO2

Desirabl
e
Above
Below
30%
1%

Lethal

Methane

CH4

Above
5%

Ammonia

NH3

Above
Below
500ppm 40ppm

Hydrogen
Sulfide

H2S

Above
Below
500ppm 40ppm

Oxygen

O2

Below
6%

Below
1%

Above
16%

How much to ventilate

Knowing how much to ventilate during cold weather is

crucial but to simplify a minimum ventilation value

of 0.588 cubic feet per minute per kg body weight is
suggested. Ventilating too little can lead to poor
air/litter quality, resulting in bird health and
performance issues. Ventilating too much can lead to
drafty conditions and high heating costs.
Static pressure is of importance to avoid chilling and

its desired value is dependant upon width of house. As

a rule of thumb the width of house in meters is equal
to the static pressure required in Pascal.

Practical application
Minimum ventilation value
Calculate total live weight in house by

multiplying average weight in kilograms with

number of birds present in house.
By multiplying total live wt with 0.588, we will

have total cfms required to ventilate house.

Adjust the fan runtime by dividing total cfms on

cfm of one fan.

Practical application of static

pressure value:
Lets say width of house is 45 feet.
Divide 45 by 3.2808 to convert it into meters.
45/3.2808 gives 13.71.
So 13.71 Pascal pressure is required.
Divide 13.71 by 249 to convert it into inches

of water column.
So 0.055 inches of water column static
pressure is required to pull the air up to the
center of house.

Example To Elaborate Minimum Ventilation

Let suppose we have a house of Length 500 ft, Width 45 ft,

Total number of birds are 40,000 and average weight of

the bird is 500 grams. Capacity of one minimum
ventilation fan is 9000 CFM. Outside temperature is 2
Degree Centigrade. How to calculate its ventilation?
Calculation of minimum ventilation:
40,000 x 500= 20,000 kilograms

1000
20,000 x 0.588= 11760 CFM required
11760

9000

1.30 Fans

Example To Elaborate
Minimum Ventilation
1.30 fans mean that we may operate one fan

continuously and one fan on 30% timer. We

may also operate 2 fans on 65% timer or
operate 3 fans on 43% timer.
Static pressure:
45 / 3.2808 = 13.71 Pascal
13.71 / 249 = 0.055 inches of water
column(1 of water column =249 Pascal)

Age wise recommended minimum

ventilation Per Bird rates.
Some studies recommend
typical minimum
ventilation rates per bird
depending upon the age
of the broilers.
This table is added
specifically due to the
reason that minimum
ventilation at day first is a
little bit tricky on body
weight basis.

minimum ventilation is making sure

that in coming cold air mixes
uniformly with and is warmed by in
house air before coming in contact
with the bird.
The setup that most constantly
meets this requirement is a
negative pressure system using
side walls exhaust fans with
adjustable air inlets.
The partial vacuum created in the
house( static pressure 0.05---0.1
inches of water column) pulls air in
evenly and at the same high
velocity through all inlets so that
the mixing of outside and in house
air is uniform through out the
house.

How to avoid chilling

Transitional ventilation
Fall and spring are transitional seasons when difference

between day and night temperature may range from 15 to

20 degree centigrade. So this is a difficult time for farmers
to manage poultry house ventilation.
Farmer must be alert to need for ventilation setup
changes and manage the transition smoothly.
Transitional ventilation goal is to maintain in house
optimum temperature that support best bird performance.
In transitional weathers wind chill is required at day time
but may hurt bird performance at night. So keep on
switching between minimum and tunnel depending upon
outside temperature is necessary.

Objectives of Transitional
ventilation
Transitional ventilation fills gap between hot

weather and cold weather ventilation needs.

Maintaining in house temperature that support
best bird performance during changing weathers.
Switching between minimum ventilation and
tunnel ventilation to get wind chill when required
in any part of day and stopping when required.
Switching between side wall fans and tunnel fans
as required.

Tools of transitional
ventilation
Side wall fans
Tunnel fans
Inlets/vents
Static pressure switch

Temperature sensors
Controllers
Power track
Tunnel doors
Tunnel air inlets

Transitional ventilation:
Tools working sequence
Tunnel Fans : Occasionally On
Min. Ventilation Fans : On
Cooling Pad : Occasionally Open
Vents : Occasionally Open
Evaporative Cooling : Of
Tunnel door : Occasionally Open

Optimum
temperature
requirement of
broiler as grow
out progresses

Age In
days

Temp in
centigra
de

33

32

31.5

31

Our goal in ventilation is

30

13

to
keep in house
temperature at right levels.

28

17

27

21

26

25

The chart shows the daily

24

29

temperatures that produce

the best broiler feed
conversion as a grow out
progresses.

22

33

22

35

22

39

22

42

22

Tunnel ventilation
For keeping the birds cool during hot weather, we use

tunnel ventilation.
Tunnel ventilation system in the broiler house consists
of large air inlets at one end and fans at the opposite
end. The fans used in one end pull air the length of
the house at a velocity of 500 ft per minute or more.
This system removes excessive heat from the building
very fast and make a wind chill that provides the birds
additional cooling.
Evaporative cooling system is also used for cooling
the house, when tunnel ventilation system alone is
not sufficient enough.

Tunnel ventilation Objectives

Main goal of Tunnel ventilation is cooling

birds.
Maintain end to end temperature difference
as low as possible.
Maintaining low humidity during extreme hot
and humid weather.
Get rid of immense heat dissipated by the
birds.
To obtain wind chill effect as per requirement
of the birds.

Tunnel ventilation:
Tools working sequence
Tunnel Fans : On
Min. Ventilation Fans : of
Cooling Pad : Open
Vents : Closed
Evaporative Cooling : On
Tunnel door : Open

Principles of tunnel ventilation

Pulling air in a single direction from one end to the

other end produces a certain velocity. This air

movement from one end to the other carries all the
excessive heat dissipated by the birds and
excessive humidity, gasses outside the house.
With increasing air velocity effective temperature

felt by the bird is decreased.

Evaporative cooling system decreases the

temperature by adding humidity in the house. It is

very important to realize that the evaporative
cooling produces far less cooling than does the air
speed.

Points to be considered in
tunnel ventilation
Ventilate with Tunnel, only when cooling the

birds is the goal.

Turn on the right number of fans for cooling
needed, depending upon the age of the birds.
Watch the birds not only thermometer to see how
much cooling is needed.
Do not run fewer than half of the installed tunnel
fans if you intended to be tunnel ventilating .
Monitor and maintain adequate air flow.
If running evaporative pad cooling static pressure
should be 0.05 to 0.1 inches of water column.

Tools of tunnel ventilation

Exhaust fans:
Expel air out of the
building and
combination produces
velocity of air in the
house.
Number of fans are
determined through cross
section of the house and
desired velocity.

No of fans = Cross Section x Desired Velocity

CFM of one fan

Tools of tunnel ventilation

Cooling pads: it is a pad

made up of cellulose with

different flute angles. When
we pour water upon pads
and air pass through the
wet flutes, air cools down
due to addition of humidity.
That cooled air is pulled in a
single direction by exhausts
fans through out the house.
Air velocity across the pad
must be 350fpm with
operation of all fans.

Number of Cooling Pads

in a Modern House
When we have desired # of fans what may be the pad area to
support these fans properly in extreme hot weather.
Area of cooling Pad= Total no of fans x CFM of one fan
350 fpm
Total No of pads=total area for pads
Area of one pad
(Air should pass across the cooling pad at a speed of 350

fpm).
Number of pads may be determined by dividing total area
required by area of 1 pad.

Tools of Tunnel
ventilation
Tunnel door
Cooling pads

motor
Power track for
the operation of
tunnel door
Controller
Temperature
sensors
Humidity sensor
Humidity switch

Ventilation during hot and

dry weather
With increase in temperature a poultry house

needs higher ventilation.

With increasing age and temperature we may
keep on operating more fans until we reach to a
velocity of 1 minute air change.
If the effective temperature felt by the bird is still
high then we have to operate cooling pads.
When the air passes through the wet cooling pads
it is cooled down in dry weather and directed
towards the ceiling of the house to avoid chilling
of the birds at pads area.

Ventilation during hot and dry

weather
The cooled air would be transported to the

end of the house in 1 minute.

So the temperature of the house would
come down quickly and it would be sensed
by the sensors and conveyed to the
controller. The controller would bring down
the air velocity by shutting off fans to
avoid chilling by combined effect of low
temperature and wind chill.

End to end temperature

difference
In tunnel
ventilation end to end temperature difference
must be as low as possible.
Higher the air velocity lower would be the end to end
difference.
In the given diagram the end to end difference is almost
2 degree with an air velocity of 550 fpm.
it also depends upon insulation of the house.
Poor the insulation higher would be the end to end
difference.

Ventilation during hot and

humid weather

This is the most challenging weather in Pakistan for

poultry farmers.

As we approaches the month of July in Pakistan there is

a sudden increase in the relative humidity outside due
to Moon Soon.

In this weather our tool of minimizing house

temperature through evaporative cooling does not
work properly due to increased humidity.

We are supposed to increase the air velocity as much a

possible in this type of condition.

Ventilation during hot and

humid weather
But still despite achieving the maximum possible

air velocity, we do need to decrease the

temperature by a certain degree due to the fact
the temperature goes beyond 35 degree
centigrade.
In such conditions we operate pads on timer
basis.
Off time of the pad is calculated by observing the
time in which the pad is dried off and the on time
is determined on the basis of observation that in
how much time the pads become completely wet.
Increasing air velocity to 40 seconds air change or
less may give good results.

Thank You
For
Attention.