Temperature is the most direct, important and difficult parameter for environmental control in chicken cages. The suitability of environmental control directly affects the performance of broilers. If the temperature is too high, the feed intake of chickens will be reduced, the amount of drinking water will be too much, and the heat stress of the chickens will increase. The chickens only need to consume a part of their physical energy to resist heat stress, which will eventually cause the chickens to grow slowly. Increasing feed consumption such as diseases and growing chickens will also consume physical energy to resist cold stress. Too high or low temperature will reduce feed returns, thereby reducing economic benefits. Therefore, only according to the development characteristics of the chicken flock to make the environment reach the best temperature control range, can the production performance of the chicken flock be maximized.

 

The brooding stage is mainly based on heat preservation. The current brooding methods mainly include high temperature brooding and temperature difference brooding. No matter which method is adopted, the general principle is to ensure that the chicks have a suitable temperature environment. In addition to referring to the temperature table during production, it is more important to carefully observe the distribution of the chicks in the house. The flocks are evenly dispersed, breathing smoothly, and active, indicating that the temperature is appropriate. On the contrary, when the chicken flocks panting or screaming, unevenly spreading or even bunching up. It indicates that the temperature is too high or too low. At this time, the temperature in the chicken cages should be adjusted in time to reach the optimum level for the flock.

The suitable temperature for growing chickens is 18~23℃. If the temperature exceeds the suitable temperature, it will show gasping, drinking water will increase, feed intake will decrease, and feed conversion rate will decrease; if the temperature exceeds 35℃, severe mouth opening will appear. Panting, drinking more water, feeding abolishment, increased heat stress in the flock, and some chickens even died of heatstroke. If the temperature is too low, the chicken flocks will curl up or even get together. The cold stress of the flock will increase, the physical energy consumption will increase and the feed conversion rate will decrease. Therefore, it can be solved by improving feed nutrition, increasing feed intake, and increasing room temperature in indoor fired stoves.