Avaliação dos índices de conforto térmico para as diferentes fases de produção de aves de corte utilizando cartas de controle

Abstract

Having a thermoregulatory system more adapted to retain heat than to dissipate it, broiler chickens, especially those raised in the Northeast region of Brazil, are constantly under heat stress, which limits their productivity. The search for better zootechnical and economic indexes, because of challenges generated by the environment where birds are raised, has stimulated research related to changes in the structure of the sheds and in diets, in an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by high temperatures on the performance of animals. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the values of temperature, relative humidity, ITU (Temperature and Humidity Index) and ITGU (Black Globe Temperature and Humidity Index) of an experimental broiler house located in the city of São Cristóvão/SE. A device, developed and validated by the Department of Agricultural Engineering, was used to calculate and store the thermal comfort indexes over a period of seven weeks. To analyze the values of the thermal comfort indexes, control charts were used, prepared using the Minitab 19 program. From the evaluation of the values of temperature, relative humidity, the ITU and ITGU of the broiler house, all of them not matching with those recommended by the literature, it was possible to observe the need for changes in the breeding environment to obtain ideal conditions of thermal comfort for the production of broilers, as well as an economic feasibility study, considering the investments to adapt the environment for the production of these birds.