Innovative poultry houses: a review

All developed and developing countries seek to take action to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change and global warming; NASA announced that December 2015 was the hottest on record. Consequently, 196 countries have been meeting annually to agree an updated framework for energy saving and climate change. The agri-food sector accounts directly or indirectly for around 30% of total energy consumption all over the world with a particularly high contribution from the poultry industry due to the high protein ratio associated with chicken meat and egg production. Over recent decades, chicken meat production has dramatically increased by approximately tenfold. In the future, this trend will continue with a steady growth based on the FAO 2015–2025 outlook. In this context, the potential of decreasing energy usage with efficient and cost-effective environmental control systems and various kinds of technologies (i.e. solar-based systems, heat pump units and evaporative cooling) applied to poultry houses have been investigated and tested on the basis of correlative literatures and laboratory works. Heat stress is one of the most significant environmental stressors challenging poultry production, especially in summer. In addition to causing suffering and death among chickens, it decreases production and adversely affects profits and food availability. In addition, in terms of broilers and pullets, the optimum temperature ranges from around 33°C at birth to around 23°C at four weeks, and laying hens function best within the temperature range 26-28°C. Temperature increase causes reduced feed consumption among chickens which affects their weight and the quality of their eggs. Consequently, heating, cooling and air ventilation inside the sheds are key welfare considerations for managing poultry houses. This review focuses on investigating the possibility of sustainable technologies for providing thermal comfort of chickens and the importance and effects of heat stress on poultry production.