Field Evaluation of a Sprinkling System for Cooling Commercial Laying Hens in Iowa
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Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.
History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.
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1905–present
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- Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Engineering (parent college)
- Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)
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Abstract
An economical, low–pressure (276 kPa, 40 psi) sprinkling system was tested for its efficacy of cooling laying hens in a commercial high–rise layer house [14 Ü 130 m (46 Ü 426 ft)] in Iowa. The sprinklers, rated at 2.1 mL/s (2 gal/h) each, were equally spaced at 3 m (10 ft) apart and 2.4 m (8 ft) above the floor in each cage aisle of the layer house. They were controlled to operate 10 s every 10 min when the inside temperature exceeded 32 _ C (90 _ F). The system was shown to improve egg production by 2.6% overall and 5.6% for the top deck (P < 0.01). There was no sign of sprinkling damage to eggshell integrity. Autocorrelation analysis has the potential to quantify the impact of heat stress history on subsequent egg production response of the hen. Work is needed to optimize the layout of the sprinklers for uniform water distribution and water application rate as a function of environmental conditions.
Comments
Journal Paper No J–18811 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University, Project No. 3311. Mention of vendor or product names is for presentation clarity and does not imply endorsement by the authors or Iowa State University nor exclusion of other suitable products.
This article is from Applied Engineering in Agriculture 17, no. 2 (2001): 217–221.