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Ventilation System Requirements for Conversion to Group Sow Housing

Ventilation System Requirements for Conversion to Group Sow Housing

The animal environment and energy costs all are impacted by ventilation. When converting to a group-housed sow barn, retaining the existing ventilation system leads to over-ventilation in winter as they are designed for a higher animal density. This can chill the animals with negative impacts on performance and also increases energy costs as it is being overventilated by 33%, with energy consumption raised by 75%. Unfortunately reducing the ventilation does not work as the system needs reconfiguration in order to ensure proper air distribution throughout the room. Under-ventilating creates an unhealthy environment with increased levels of ammonia and carbon dioxide. In order to have a balanced environment, careful re-design of the existing ventilation system must occur. The horizontal flow ventilation system with air inlets on one side and exhaust fans on the other had the best performance. In-barn evaluation showed a 21% reduction in natural gas consumption during heating season and 14% reduction in electricity consumption relative to the unmodified ventilation system.

Ventilation System Requirements for Conversion to Group Sow Housing (full article)