Roof Insulation and Its Effect on Broiler Chicken Mortality in Hot Weather

ABSTRACT TESTS were conducted in environ-1 mental chambers, and in insu-lated sections of a poultry house, to determine the effects on broiler chicken mortality, in hot weather, of insulation in the roof. In chamber tests, simulated roof radiation with environmental conditions of 105 °F dry bulb (DB) with 39 percent relative humidity (RH) caused a mortality rate of 40 percent for 8-week-old male broiler chickens; without simulated roof radiation, mortality was 22 percent. In a conventional, fan-ventilated poultry house, it was found that insulation in the roof reduced maxi-mum DB temperature during summer 6 to 7 °F compared to the house with uninsulated roof.