High environmental temperature increases mortality of poultry due to inhibition of immune responses and the maintenance of production, reproduction and economy of the poultry farm requires modification of the surrounding environment, ventilation system, bird density, and nutritional management to reduce heat stress in poultry. This study used 108-days old, commercial broiler chicks (VenCobb strain). These birds were randomly divided into three treatment groups i.e., T0, T1 and T2 comprising of 60 birds in each treatment with a total of 180 birds. Each treatment was further divided into three replications with 20 birds in each. These chicks were kept in floor pens, and water and feed were provided ad libitum throughout the experimental period of 42 days. The control (T0) had pen without a cooling device, while other treatment groups i.e., T1 and T2 were having an evaporative cooling pad and fogger systems, respectively. This study found highly significant effects of cooling devices on different growth parameters like body weight, body weight gain, and feed consumption whereas the feed conversion ratio was found non-significant during 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th weeks of age. The result of different growth parameters such as weekly body weight and body weight gain, weekly feed consumption, weekly feed conversion ratio (FCR), was found better in T1 group as compared to T0 and T2 groups. The result of shed microclimate indicates that ambient temperature and temperature humidity index (THI) in control (T0) were highly significant (p≤0.01) thanT1 and T2 groups. From this study, it can be concluded that the evaporative cooling pad and fogger system ensures significant improvement in micro-climate of shed, and better growth performance of broilers.

Broiler, Heat stress, Evaporative cooling pad, Fogger system

Heat stress is one of the most challenging environmental conditions which have an adverse effect on the poultry industry. Broiler chickens are sensitive to heat stress, high ambient temperature, and relative humidity and these are major environmental stressors that influence the performance of broilers while the ideal environmental temperature enhanced the production. The evaporative cooling pad system and fogger system provide comfortable microenvironment conditions to broilers leads to enhanced feeding efficiency and which in turn improved growth performance of broilers. Since poultry industry is rapidly growing in Rajasthan, the farmers are suggested to use these devices during the peak summer months to sustain the industry.

Vipin Chandra, Navav Singh, Sanjita Sharma, Abhishek Saini, Sunil Kumar Meena, Mukesh Kumar Gahan and Ashok Baindha (2022). Comparative Efficacy of Evaporative Cooling Pad and Fogger System on Growth Performance of Broiler Chicken in Summer Season. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 390-397.