Original Scientific Article
Air quality measurements in laying hens housing
Mirko Prodanov * ,
Miroslav Radeski ,
Vlatko Ilieski

Mac Vet Rev 2016; 39 (1): 91 - 95

10.1515/macvetrev-2016-0071

Received: 30 June 2015

Received in revised form: 30 November 2015

Accepted: 15 December 2015

Available Online First: 04 January 2016

Published on: 15 March 2016

Correspondence: Mirko Prodanov, m.prodanov@fvm.ukim.edu.mk
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Abstract

Ensuring good environmental conditions of the poultry houses can be costly for the farmers, but without it losses due to poor bird health and performance due to poor air quality can be much more detrimental to net returns. The goal of this study was to investigate the variations in air quality in various areas inside the laying hen houses. Ten houses with laying hen conventional battery cages were measured for O2, H2S, CO, NH3, temperature, relative humidity, CO2, airflow and luminance. The results of the physical measures showed that temperatures in the houses were between 15.31–25.6°C, the relative humidity 48.03-81.12%, while the luminance rarely exceeded 8 lux. As for the gasses, the values for NH3 rarely exceeded 8 ppm, although at some measuring points it reached 26 ppm. O2 was generally at 20.9 %, and the levels of CO2 were very low. No presence of H2S and CO was detected. In this study it was concluded that the measurement of the air quality in a house can vary depending of the places this measures are taken. Multiple measurement points are important because they may make the staff aware of the problems connected to low ventilation and culmination of harmful gases. The air quality in different positions in the houses is of great importance not only for the animal welfare, but also for the safety of the staff.

Keywords: laying hens, ammonia, temperature, air quality

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Copyright

© 2016 Prodanov M. This is an open-access article publishedunder the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License whichpermits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,provided the original author and source are credited.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declared that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation Information

Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 39, Issue 1, Pages 91-95, p-ISSN 1409-7621, e-ISSN 1857-7415, DOI: 10.1515/macvetrev-2016-0071, 2016

The all content of the Macedonian Veterinary Review, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.