LIGHT, AIR AND HEAT

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 10

LIGHT, AIR AND HEAT

■yyiTH many fowls now kept in poultry houses, ventilation, lighting and heating is of growing importance. There are several firms which provide equipment and can give advice on these facets of poultrykeeping. Ventilation requires air movement into the building, and the movement out of stale and contaminated air. Movement of air inside the building is also required to produce a healthy atmosphere and avoid temperature gradients. Hens require ventilation for three purposes: to provide enough oxygen, to remove ammonia, carbon dioxide methane and hydrogen sulphide from the atmosphere and remove the moisture given off by the birds.

and in summer to keep temperatures down. As far as lighting is concerned chickens, layers and meat-chickens all need different treatment. Usually a continuous white light is used with chickens, and this light should be of the lowest possible intensity. Where layers are concerned, the duration, intensity and colour of the lighting must be considered. During winter the length of the “day” is increased by using lights for a greater period, so that as far as the bird is concerned the length of the day is the same, summer and winter.

The effects of light on meat chickens are small. Producers often use red lights because this appears to reduce the risk of cannibalism among the birds, but it may increase feather pecking.

In closed meat-bird houses artificial light is usually provided almost continuously—a 23-hour period is best because it gives the birds some experience of darkness in case of a power failure. Up to three weeks a chicken needs heat because it does not produce enough for itself. Infra-red electric heaters are usually used, but storage heaters are also used. Pullets and grown hens have not usually been supplied with heat in the past, because in the New Zealand climate they usually provide enough heat for themselves.

Recently, however, it has been found that full-house heating can be beneficial, and large oil burners are used for this.

THE weight of a dressed bird is about two-thirds its live-weight. About an eighth of the weight is lost in dressing, and about a fifth is lost when the bird is cleaned.