2022/01/01 by Pauline Créach, Creach, Pauline, Paul Robin +13
Environmental Science · #Environmental Impact and Sustainability
paper · doi:10.17180/ciag-2022-vol85-art12
The ministerial decree of 28 June 2010 establishing the standards for the protection of broilers sets a limit of 3000 ppm of carbon dioxide (CO2) not to be exceeded in the air at the height of the animals and throughout the all flock. Since then, CO2 concentration sensors have been implemented in poultry houses and this gas is a good indicator of the level of confinement in the barn. The objective of this article is to identify methodological elements for measuring CO2 in broiler houses. The main criteria for the choice of CO2 sensors are an accuracy of 100 ppm and a measurement range of 0 to 10 000 ppm. Different CO2 sensors, using non-dispersive infrared technology, were tested in commercial poultry houses. The results showed that two of the five sensors tested should not be used continuously in poultry houses. In addition, the spatial variability of CO2 concentrations was evaluated in a first phase under experimental broile conditions and in a second phase in commercial barns. In the first phase, it was found that the position of the sensor at 80 cm +/- 20 cm from the floor between the pipettes and the feeders is the best compromise for measuring a concentration representative of the overall atmosphere in the building at the beginning of the flock. At the end of the breeding period, a measurement at 80 cm from the ground would underestimate the concentrations at the height of the animals at the end of the flock. This result was confirmed by the trials in commercial barns and showed that it may be relevant to add a sensor at 10 cm in addition to the one at 80 cm. The horizontal heterogeneity of CO2 concentrations was more pronounced at the beginning of the flock than at the end and may suggest to purchase additional sensors to take this heterogeneity into account. In view of the results of the sensors test, investment in an efficient sensor and its maintenance seems more relevant than the purchase of an additional sensor.