Juliana Maria Massari

Geoestatística para a avaliação do controle ambiental do sistema de ventilação em instalações comerciais para frangos de corte

The ventilation and cooling systems are important to environmental control inside broilers house enabling the bird to express the maximum potential of production. The aim of this study was to evaluate, using geostatistical analysis, the influence of the ventilation system and the different typologies of building in relation to thermal welfare and air quality in broilers house with birds in the final phase. The broiler facilities evaluated were: Blue House - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and nebulizers, Dark House - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and pad cooling and Solid Wall - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and pad cooling. The attributes evaluated were dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, concentration of carbon dioxide and ammonia, during the summer time at 2PM on 52 equidistant points inside the building. The data analysis was by statistical and geostatistical. Geostatistical analysis was an efficient tool to evaluate distribution of environmental conditions in the broilers houses and was able to identify the influence of presence or absence of evaporative panel inside conditions.

Heat transfer to calculate minimum ventilation rates for broilers house.

The correct use of minimum ventilation and heating system on broiler’s brooding phase is important even in tropical climates such as Brazil. Thus, the study of heat exchange is important to determine new materials of insulation for the walls and roof, in order to achieve optimal levels of thermal comfort to raise the birds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the actual minimum ventilation rate compared to the ideal ventilation rate calculated throw the heat balance of the brooding area from a tunnel ventilated broiler house totally closed with black side curtains and to improve the minimum ventilation and the heating systems to reach the ideal temperature inside the brooding area. The trail was performed at Mombuca city, State of Sao Paulo. The broiler house had a brooding area that was divided in 80 grids to collect the climatic variables (dry bulb temperature, relative humidity and air velocity) at the birds’ level and inside and outside the broiler house and the CO2 concentration was collected only inside the brooding area. The inside and outside surface temperature of all the brooding area (curtains, ceiling and roof) was collected using a thermograph camera. All data were collected 4 times a day (9AM, 2PM, 5PM and 9PM), in winter-time. The minimum ventilation rate was calculated according the methodology proposed by Albright (1990). The temperature was always below the ideal temperature according Nicholson et al. 2004 demonstrating the need of a 58Kg of diesel/day to reach the birds ideal temperature.

Sound Levels in a Wean-to-Finish Facility in Brazil

Abstract: Wean-to-finish is a popular production facility in the United States and is increasing in Brazilian swine production. In wean-to-finish facilities, pigs are weaned directly into a finishing style building and remain there until slaughter. The study of sound levels is characterized by the vocalizations emitted by a group of animals. The sounds may indicate stress, discomfort, fear, or any other emotional disorder. This study aimed to evaluate the sound levels emitted by different group sizes (22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 animals per pen) and stocking densities (1.12, 1.02, 0.94, 0.88, 0.82 animals/m²) in a wean-to-finish swine production system. The experiment was divided into four periods: phase 1(13.40 kg initial weight to final weight 37.95 kg), phase 2 (37.96 initial weight to final weight 60.30 kg), phase 3 (60.31 initial weight to final weight 86.86 kg) and phase 4 (86.87 initial weight to final weight 125 kg). Decibelimeters with automatic scale of 30 to 130dB located at the center of each pen were used to record the sound levels every 30 seconds. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA and Tukey’s test and were performed using SAEG (System for Genetic Analysis and Statistics). The results showed lowest sound levels for the smallest group size studied (22 animals). The highest mean sound level of 61.4 dB occurred in the 26 animals/pen group size, which was within the allowable limit of 85 dB specified in NR15 Brazilian norm. It can be concluded that main sound level emitted by pigs in a wean-to-finish facility is within the limits recommended by a Brazilian norm.