2018 journal article

Evaluation of Ventilation Shutdown in a Multi-level Caged System

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POULTRY RESEARCH, 27(4), 555–563.

By: K. Eberle-Krish n, M. Martin*, R. Malheiros n, S. Shah n , K. Livingston n & K. Anderson n 

co-author countries: United States of America πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ
author keywords: ventilation shutdown; heat; CO2; mass depopulation; multi-level caged systems; laying hens
Source: Web Of Science
Added: December 31, 2018

In 2015, the United States experienced an extensive outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza resulting in the depopulation of 42.1 million commercial egg-laying hens. Existing mass depopulation methods in multilevel caged systems utilized throughout the egg industry provide a challenge for producers and emergency personnel. An alternative depopulation method with potential for use in the egg industry is ventilation shutdown (VSD), which uses a combination of increasing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to promote death by hyperthermia and hypoxia. This proof-of concept study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of VSD, VSD with supplemental heat (VSDH), and VSD with CO2 (VSDCO2) as alternative mass depopulation methods in a multilevel caged system. Assessment parameters included ambient and core body temperatures, time to death, and survivability. Time to death for VSD, VSDH, and VSDCO2 were 3.75, 2, and 1.5 h, respectively. Survivability in VSD did not meet the flock depopulation standard of 100% lethality. Based on 100% lethality and time to death, VSDH and VSDCO2 are equivalent in their ability to effectively depopulate hens in a multi-level caged system. Air mixing should be used to prevent stratification of heat or CO2 concentrations between the top and bottom levels of a caged system. While the data emulate a commercial layer environment, application of the techniques in this study still need to be evaluated in a commercial setting.