New app improves cold-weather ventilation for poultry
UGA poultry science developed the Chkminvent app, a poultry house moisture removal and ventilation calculator intended to provide users with an estimated minimum ventilation rate required to remove the specified daily amount of moisture from a poultry house. (Image credit: Mike Czarick)
A new app — appropriately named CHKMINVENT — is designed to give poultry producers an easy-to-use means to calculate minimum ventilation rates in their houses during cold weather conditions.
CHKMINVENT allows producers to enter variables, including outside temperature, amount of water chickens consume, temperature inside the house and size of poultry-house fans. It then calculates the time farmers need to run their fans to remove excess moisture from the house while keeping chickens at a comfortable temperature.
Winter ventilation becomes a balancing act between air quality, temperature and air movement, making it a moving target for poultry producers.
UGA poultry science developed the Chkminvent app, a poultry house moisture removal and ventilation calculator intended to provide users with an estimated minimum ventilation rate required to remove the specified daily amount of moisture from a poultry house. (Image credit: MIke Czarick)
“In the winter there is so much at stake,” explains Mike Czarick, extension engineer at the University of Georgia.
“Ventilate too much and you have excessive energy costs and stressed birds. Ventilate too little and you have poor air quality and wet litter which can lead to poor performance and health. You really have to be much more thoughtful about how you operate your fans during cold weather to maintain bird health.”
The CHKMINVENT app is available through Apple’s App Store.
Posted on August 3, 2015
