Abstract

Investigations about how different factors affect concentration and release of dust in a floor housing system for laying hens have been carried out at JBT:s research station Alnarp Södergård. A climate chamber was equipped with a floor housing system. How age of hens, storage time of manure, ventilation rate and bedding materials affected concentration and release of dust were investigated during two production batches. The mass balance of dust as well as the efficiency of different dust reducing measures were investigated and analysed. Settling of dust was a more important mechanism in the mass balance of dust than ventilation rate. A major part of the generated dust settled on different surfaces inside the building. The settling rate of dust was affected by the concentration of dust in the air. The settled amount of dust also stood in relation to the floor area of the stable. An increased ventilation rate had a limited effect on the concentration of total dust due to the importance of the settling of the dust. Automatic spraying of small droplets of water reduced the dust concentration. Spraying a mixture of rape seed oil in water was also effective with an automatic spraying system. Dust release was also investigated when using six different bedding materials, namely; gravel, clay pellets, peat, wood shavings, chopped straw and chopped paper. Clay pellets and peat resulted in lowest concentrations of dust

Keywords

Laying hens; dust; climate; ventilation; bedding

Published in

Agricultural Engineering International: the CIGR Ejournal
2006, volume: VIII, number: BC 05 018, pages: 1-13
Publisher: CIGR

Authors' information