USE OF LOW-COST MICROCOMPUTERS FOR CONTROL OF ENVIRONMENT IN POULTRY HOUSES

A low-cost computer was adapted to measure temperature, control brooder stoves and ventilation fans, and raise or lower sidewall curtains. A computer program was developed to describe mathematically and to control the parameters required to maintain the required temperature and relative humidity (RH) to brood and grow broiler chickens. The system has operated a poultry house to grow broilers during winter at the USDA South Central Poultry Research Laboratory in Mississippi and has been used on commercial broiler farms in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.