Measurement of environmental parameters of cascading caged-rearing duck houses in Shandong of China in summer and winter

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the influence of environmental parameters on the outgoing quality of meat ducks. In this experiment, Cherry Valley ducks were taken as the research object. 48 measuring points were selected in the breeding house to measure the whole growth cycle, in order to explore the distribution law of environmental parameters in different positions of the cascading caged-rearing meat duck house in summer and winter. The results showed that there were significant differences in the environmental parameters collected from various locations in different seasons. In summer, the temperature and humidity at the distance of 27.3m (28.81℃, 79.89%) and 45.3m (28.60℃, 79.64%) away from the clear road end were significantly lower than (P<0.05) those at 9.3m (28.95℃, 80.50%) and 63.3m (28.87℃, 80.22%). The wind speed at the position of 9.3m (0.34 m/s) was significantly lower than (P<0.05) that at other measuring point. The concentration of ammonia and carbon dioxide showed an upward trend from the end of clean channel to the end of the sewage channel. In the vertical direction, the temperature and humidity in the upper middle layer (29.01℃, 80.59%) were significantly higher than (P<0.05) those in the upper and lower layers. The wind speed in the upper layer (1.00m/s) was significantly higher than (P<0.05) that in the middle and lower layers, indicating that there was no significant difference between the middle and lower layers. The concentrations of ammonia (1.36mg/m3) and carbon dioxide (1519.98mg/m3) in the lower layer were higher than others. In winter in the horizontal direction, the temperature decreased from the clean end to the sewage end at the age of 1~3 weeks, but increased at the age of 4~5 weeks. During the test period, the relative humidity, wind speed, concentration of ammonia and carbon dioxide showed an upward trend from the clean road end to the dirty road end. Vertically, the temperature (24.50℃), concentration of ammonia concentration (6.25mg/m3), and carbon dioxide (5215.87mg/m3) in the middle layer were significantly higher than (P<0.05) those in the upper and lower layers. The wind speed in the middle layer (0.07m/s) was significantly lower than (P<0.05) that in the upper and lower layers. In summer and winter, the average outgoing quality of the middle floor (2.88, 3.05 kg) was slightly lower than that of the upper and lower floors, while, the average outgoing quality of the back end (2.84, 3.01 kg) was slightly lower than that of the front end. The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a very significant negative correlation between temperature and relative humidity in summer and winter (P<0.01), while, an extremely significant negative correlation between wind speed and concentration of ammonia concentration and carbon dioxide (P<0.01). There was an extremely significant positive correlation between ammonia concentration and carbon dioxide concentration (P<0.01). The relative humidity in summer was negatively correlated with the outgoing quality of meat ducks (P<0.05). The results demonstrated that the fixed-point ventilation, increasing cage spacing or replacing heating equipment in winter can be recommended in the areas with weak ventilation, according to the distribution law of environmental parameters in the house. This finding can provide a sound reference to improve the uniformity of air distribution in the house, while, reduce the temperature and dehumidification, particularly to alleviate the accumulation of harmful gases, for a good growing environment for meat ducks breeding.