Heat and Moisture Production of Broiler Chickens During Brooding

Abstract

Using stocking rates, temperatures, and ventilation air characteristics typical of partial-house brooding, an environmental chamber was instrumented to obtain sensible and latent heat production rates for broiler chickens for the first 4 weeks. Sensible heat available from the chickens to keep the environment warm was found to be much less than earlier reports on calorimetric research have indicated. During the first week, little heat in excess of that required to evaporate moisture from the litter was produced by the chicks. Moisture production was found to be higher than previously reported in the literature. It was found that relative humidity should be maintained near 50% in order to keep litter moisture in the 25 to 30% moisture range, on a wet weight basis, when broiler chickens are brooded at the stocking rates typical of partial-house brooding.