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Penn State
Poultry T
Pointers
SHOULD BROILER
PRODUCERS CONSIDER
INSTALLING
TUNNEL VENTILATION?
Dr. William D. Weaver, Jr.
Professor and Head
Dept. Of
Poultry Science
Through genetics, nutrition, and
improved management practices,
broiler producers are able to grow
birds to market weight more rapid
ly each year.
This improvement in perfor
mance can be equated to a reduc
tion of approximately one day each
year in the time required to pro
duce a broiler. In other words, if it
required 57 days to produce a
broiler to a specific weight 15
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years ago, it would require only 42
days to produce a bird to the same
weight using today’s broiler.
Unfortunately, this significant
improvement in performance has
come with a cost attached. That
cost can be expressed in a number
of ways; however, in most cases it
can be stated that birds are much
less forgiving of their environment
than in years past Producers must
be much more aware of maintain
ing proper temperature and desir
able air quality. Low temperatures
and elevated levels of ammonia
can trigger ascites today, whereas
several years ago that was not the
case. Conversely, high tempera
tures during the summer can cause
significant mortality and loss of
performance among broilers.
Tunnel ventilation, a concept
introduced in the southeastern U.S.
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several years ago, has significantly
helped to reduce mortality during
the hot times of the year. By plac
ing a number of fans in one end of
the broiler house and allowing the
air to enter from the other end, per
mitting the long axis of the house
to act as a tunnel, air is moved
down the length of the house at a
velocity of between 350 and 400
feet per minute. The wind chill
effect of the column of air provides
meaningful cooling for the birds.
Research has shown that broilers,
when exposed to ambient air at 95
degrees Fahrenheit (F) and a vel
ocity of 350 feet per minute (f/m),
sense the air as if it was at approxi
mately 70 F.
The calculations required when
designing a tunnel ventilation sys
tem are not difficult. First one must
determine the cross section area of
the broiler house; the height x
width of the house. For example,
let’s assume that the house is 44
feet wide and has an average ceil
ing height of 10 feet, giving a cross
section area of 440 square feet.
Further, to determine the fan
capacity required, one must simply
multiply 440 square feet x 400 f/m
(air velocity down through the
house) to arrive at the cubic feet
per minute (cfm) of fan capacity
required for the tunnel system. In
this case, 176,000 cfm of fan
capacity, or approximately nine
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48-inch, fans, are needed. These
fans should be controlled with
thermostats and located in one end
of the house.
The other end of the house must
be equipped with areas to allow au
to enter. These areas are normally
a section of curtain on both sidew
alls. Again, the calculations to
determine the amount of this open
ing are simple. The opening must
be equal to or slightly larger than
the cross section of the house
440 square feet. Let’s assume that
the curtain opening is three feet
wide and continuous on both
sidewalls. Therefore, to'provide an
opening of 440 square feet, a
length of 74 feet (440 square feet
divided by 3 —147 feet divided by
2 = 74 feet) must remain open on
both sides of the house when the
ventilation system is operated in
the tunnel mode.
An additional feature that is
included with most tunnel systems
is fogging nozzles. The nozzles
normally emit from two to three
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gallons of-water‘per hour at
approximately 200 pound per
square inch (psi) and are located in
bands across the house. The first
band of from six to eight nozzles
should be located near the point
where air enters the house and the
last band should be located
approximately 100 feet from the
fan end of the house. Intermediate
bands are normally located 60 to
75 feet apart. Design criteria for
the nozzle system normally allows
for approximately nine gallons of
water per hour per 1000 square feet
of floor space. When atomized
properly, this amount of water will
cause reductions in temperature of
from five to eight degrees.
While additional cooling with
tunnel ventilation and foggers was
not required to produce broilers
just a few years ago, it has become
a necessity with today’s fast
growing birds. If you have not
looked into tunnel ventilation as a
way to cool your birds during the
hot times of the year, possibly now
is the time to do so.
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