Measuring Air Quality in Broiler Breeder Houses in Georgia
ISSN 2158-9429
Volume 14, Issue 2 - December 2021
Editor: Linda Chalker-Scott
Abstract
Poultry and egg production is facing a number of grand challenges associated with environmental quality and animal health. For instance, poultry workers and animals are faced with the challenge of poor air quality in the poultry houses, especially in winter time when house ventilation is limited. Recently, most studies have been focused on broiler grow-out houses and layer houses, very limited works have been conducted in commercial broiler breeder’s houses, where parent flocks produce hatching eggs for broiler chicks. The objectives of this study were to monitor the dust and ammonia levels in commercial broiler breeder houses and discuss potential influential factors. Two identical broiler-breeder houses were monitored in Southern Georgia. Results show that two houses had similar air temperature (70-82°F), relative humidity (40-80%), ammonia (8-12 ppm), and dust level (e.g., PM2.5 was about 0.5-1 mg m-3). Dust monitored at 1 ft above floor (bird level) was 50% higher than 3 ft above floor because bedding floor was the primary source of airborne dust and animals’ movement led to the increase of dust levels.
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