UGA Poultry Housing

Though it may be tempting to install a larger motor pulley on a fan to increase its air moving capacity, it can prove very costly. Below is a table illusratring how increasing motor pulley size (in this case on a 54" ACME) will dramatically increase the fan's power usage and risk its motor failing.

Something to consider when deciding on a pad set temperature...the sooner you turn them on, the higher the house RH will tend to be. The charts below are based on seven years of historical weather data for a farily hot, humid chicken growing location, Dothan Alabama (Yes... I know it's more hot and humid where you are located :) ).

The charts illustrate the average number of hours per year what the incoming air temperature/RH will be for a poultry house using evaporative cooling pads where they to be set to operate at 80 F.

Keep in mind that poultry houses tend to run at least 2°F warmer than the outside air. This means cooling pads activate when the outdoor temperature hits roughly 78°F. However, in most poultry-producing regions, temperature and humidity hit a cross-over point at 80°F and 80% relative humidity (RH). When outdoor temperatures drop below 80°F, humidity rises above 80%. Running cooling pads during these times brings moisture-saturated air into a house.

Getting some up close thermal images of a few older broilers 😃

Exterior fan shutter retrofit. Though an improvement over traditional exterior louvered shutters, they were not without their issues (i.e., needed to be kept clean, problematic during cold weather, adversely affected by winds). Butterfly shutters were less problematic.