Poultry Building Smart Control Technology for Energy Efficiency and Animal Welfare

Due to heavy ventilation requirements, poultry buildings consume significantly larger heating fuel than most residential and commercial buildings. As a result, energy is often the second-largest cost in poultry production after the feed. Attempts at minimizing these energy costs lead to insufficient ventilation and ultimately result in poor indoor air quality, impacting animal welfare and increasing antibiotic abuse. Our proposed smart control technology, with an integrated waste-heat recovery system, will use real-time animal behavior monitoring and health condition information as inputs to intelligently control poultry buildings' indoor environment. The phase I research will verify the technical feasibility, identify appropriate sensors, develop physiologic and pathological models, and prepare for product prototyping in Phase II development. The project's success will result in a new climate control system that can help American poultry farmers produce primer chicken meat and egg with about 50% lesser heating fuel consumption. Raising chicken in a clean and comfortable environment with lower carbon dioxide and ammonia will support antibiotic-free production and a higher standard of animal welfare. Digital sensors will reduce the farmer's time inside the building and benefit biosecurity. Manufacturing of the developed products will create job opportunities in the rural area of central Missouri.