Carbon dioxide concentrations, temperature, and broiler chicken performance in a Canadian Prairie climate

Abstract

Carbon dioxide concentrations, indoor and outdoor temperature data were collected from 32 broiler barns and 15 observation sites across Southern Manitoba to better understand typical values observed during broiler production cycles. Individual dataset averages ranged from 421 to 4912 ppm of carbon dioxide. Monthly averages ranged from 1133 ppm to 3722 ppm. Monthly averages between November 2019 and March 2020 were all greater than 3000 ppm. 73 of 217 had averages greater than 3000 ppm, and 65 of these datasets occurred between November 2019 and March 2020. Of the 80 datasets collected between November 2019 and March 2020, 65 averaged over 3000 ppm. The data shows that carbon dioxide concentrations are closely related to outdoor temperatures on both an hourly and average level. This observation indicates that the fossil fuel combustion by the heating systems in the barns contribute significantly to the carbon dioxide concentrations in the barns. The observation was then proven using correlation and statistical analysis. Broiler performance parameters from two barns were obtained to relate the collected environmental data to broiler performance. The two broiler rooms were located on the same observation site and were of identical construction. Using JMP 16 analysis software (https://onthehub.com/), no statistically significant relationships at a 10% level between growth performance and environmental parameters were observed. Statistically significant relationships were observed when livability and condemnations were compared against the environmental data. Confounding variables were identified when relating performance parameters to carbon dioxide and the temperature difference between ambient conditions and the indoor barn temperature. The primary driver of the performance parameter trends cannot be made with this research.