Seasonal Impacts on Thermal Comfort and Growth Performance of Broilers in Commercial Conditions

Year 2025, Volume: 22 Issue: 1, 18 - 23, 25.06.2025

Arda Sözcü , Seyit Uğuz

Abstract

This study was conducted on 12 broiler flocks (Ross 308) reared during the spring and autumn seasons on commercial farms in Bursa and its districts, in a contracted production model under an integrator firm. Broiler performance parameters, including final body weight, cumulative feed and water intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR), along with environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity (RH), and CO2 concentration, were monitored over a 42-day growing period. The Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) was calculated using average temperature and RH data. While body weight and feed intake remained consistent across seasons, FCR was more efficient in spring (1.38 vs. 1.53, P<0.05). The back-side temperature was higher in the spring than in the autumn (28.8ºC vs. 27.9ºC, P<0.001). The back size THI with a value of 80.1 was found to be higher in the spring compared to the autumn (78.4, P<0.01). The CO2 concentration was found to be higher in the autumn (1801.1 ppm) than the spring (1415.1 ppm, P<0.001). These findings clearly showed that the season affects economic performance through FCR. Investigating the potential positive or negative effects of the seasons could provide crucial insights for developing new strategies to optimize flock management and improve welfare standards in broiler production.

Keywords

Broiler, Final body weight, Season, T-humidity indices

Ethical Statement

The ethical approval is not required for this study. This is a study field performed by standard free-range process. Any animal was suffered during this study.

Supporting Institution

This study was funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK. project no: 120O531). This study was organized and performed in Hastavuk Company (Bursa, Turkey).

Project Number

TUBITAK. project no: 120O531

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