US poultry producers build up defences against cold weather

Poultry farmers in Arkansas, US, are running heaters and ventilators in their chicken houses as temperatures fall into single digits.

With temperatures forecast to stay at or below freezing, growers will be working hard to get things done and monitor the birds, with some spending nights in the chicken houses, said Dustan Clark, Extension poultry health veterinarian for the University of Arkansas' Division of Agriculture.

Day-old chicks in commercial poultry houses are kept in the temperature range of 90-94 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cold weather means that growers will be running more heat to keep the birds comfortable, he said.

As the birds age, they are more able to produce their own heat. Older birds generate about five Btu per pound of body weight, so a six-pound bird would be generating about 30 Btu of heat, Clark said.

As the birds produce heat, they also produce a lot of moisture from respiration and excretion. The grower has to ventilate the house to reduce humidity and keep the birds from getting too hot. The house temperature is about 60 in older, heavier birds.

As these older birds produce heat, they require more calories. The older the bird, the more ventilating will be done to keep them at the correct temperature so they will eat more, Clark said.