Motorbike Powered Trailer for Transporting Poultry Birds

Abstract

The demand for poultry products has made it necessary for farmers to transport poultry birds from farmhouses to where they could be processed for the consumers. However, transporting poultry birds over a long distance, and under unfavourable conditions, could cause a shift in their behaviours, and biochemical reactions, resulting in an increase in birds’ traumatic injuries, weight loss, and poor meat quality. Therefore, a motorbike powered trailer was developed, having an average loading capacity of 50 to 54 broiler chickens, with a live body weight of 1.5 kg, for small-scale farmers. The climatic conditions (temperature and relative humidity) within the trailer were evaluated when the trailer was tested on the motion for 35 minutes during the hot period of the day (1:30 pm to 2:05 pm). The result showed that the indoor temperatures ranged between 29.3°C and 31.6°C and the outdoor temperatures ranged from 31.0°C and 33.3°C. Similarly, the indoor relative humidity was between 61 and 69% while that of outdoor relative humidity was between 56% and 64%. The mean apparent equivalent temperature (AET) of the trailer was estimated as 30.45 ± 0.54°C. This implies that the thermal zone within the trailer could be considered safe for poultry birds during hot weather periods in the humid tropical climate. The total production cost of the trailer was two hundred and forty-three US dollars, eighty cents ($243.80).