Poultry House Circulation Fan Placement: Q&A Case Study

Learn how and where to place your poultry house circulation fans for the most profitable outcome.

Circulation fans in poultry houses are used to distribute the benefit of clean air, at optimal temperature to the entire flock, at all times.

However, there are so many different types of poultry house design and knowing how or where to install your fans is tough.

This article will show you exactly how to make the most profitable decision on poultry house circulation fans.

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Situation

Commercial broiler farming today, has eyes on higher and higher meat yields.

To satisfy the demand, farmers are driven to pack in higher bird densities (profit per sq. m.).

But under hot weather conditions, high bird densities leads to heat stress. A silent killer of broiler flocks.

Heat stress

Chicken have trouble getting rid of excess body heat at the best of times. Panting, flapping their wings, standing, eating less (through loss of appetite) are all behavioural attempts to correct the balance.

Under packed housing conditions, however, despite their efforts, the heat can get too much causing birds to die.

Airflow and fans

And so, in the recent years of intensive farming, farmers have embraced the use of circulation fans.

Circulation fans cause air movement which acts as a carrier for the birds’ excess body heat.

More air flow, the more heat removed.

Type and placement of fans

But in practice things aren’t so simple…

• the kind of fan used
• the model of air flow adopted
• positioning of the fans

…all play their part in achieving the optimal outcome for your birds and your business.

Consideration

Making a long term investment decision on capital equipment for your poultry farm needs getting right 1st time.

So beforehand, it’s always best to seek the right advice and fully understand the pros and cons.

In this case, you want to be sure about…

• the best fans to use for your poultry farm
• which air flow model will work best for your bird house
• the optimal positioning of fans in the house

Video

This is a video introduction to best practices for circulation fan use in broiler houses:

FAQs to recap

To recap, here are the highlights from the video:

1. Hot, dry air from within the house rises and gets trapped directly underneath the ceiling.
2. Ceiling-mounted circulation fans are used to distribute the hot air from the ceiling down on to the flock.
3. The effects are 2 fold:
   • bringing warmth and comfort down to the birds
   • drying out the moisture from the litter
4. Ceiling fans have the benefit of:
   • healthier flocks,
   • lower fuel costs and
   • optimized performance

Case Study & Micro-Course: Where should I place my circulation fans? And how many do I need?

What you get…

The eCourse Begins Here

Problem

You’re in process of starting a broiler farm. Your model of choice is intensive farming with an environmentally controlled set-up.

As part of that solution, you understand that your poultry house will require a circulation fans system.

Whilst you’ve seen the pictures and know the principal of how they should work, you lack detailed knowledge on the product variations with pros and cons.

Your online research has led you to this article and you now need a practical guide to help direct the most profitable decision.

Supporting Facts

• Broiler house dimensions are: 350′ by 40′
• Open-sided house with sidewall curtains and end doors
• You location benefits from a coastal prevailing breeze

Expert approach