Abstract
ABSTRACT The profitability of a rabbit farming system must consider the rabbit’s breed, nutrition, management, sanitation and mainly the thermal environment that the animal will be exposed during the productive period. The aim of this study was to compare the internal thermal environment of two rabbit houses, one with ridge vent and the other without ridge vent. Geostatistical technique was used to evaluate the spatial variability of enthalpy. Data were collected at 48 points in each house during eight days at the end of summer season 2016. Measurements of dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity and wind speed were made for 1 min at three times a day at 7:00 a.m., 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In addition, the enthalpy was calculated and a data analysis was performed using geostatistical tools and isocolor maps through interpolation by kriging. Based on results from geostatistics, it was possible to characterize the variability magnitude and structure of this variable inside the rabbits’ houses with and without ridge vent. The heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of enthalpy in several regions of two houses was also observed through generated isocolor maps. The ridge vent assisted in obtaining a more favorable internal environment for rabbit breeding because this house showed more comfortable conditions of enthalpy values, besides lower heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of enthalpy.
Highlights
World production of rabbit meat in 2014 reached over 1,600,000 tons, where Asia stood out as the largest producer region, with 58.9% of total world production, followed by Europe (33.5%) and Africa (6.1%) (FAOSTAT, 2017)
The ridge vent assisted in obtaining a more favorable internal environment for rabbit breeding because this house showed more comfortable conditions of enthalpy values, besides lower heterogeneity of the spatial distribution of enthalpy
This study aims to characterize and compare the thermal environment of two rabbit houses, one with ridge vent (WRV) and the other without ridge vent (NRV) through spatial distribution of H using isocolor maps generated from interpolation by kriging
Summary
World production of rabbit meat in 2014 reached over 1,600,000 tons, where Asia stood out as the largest producer region, with 58.9% of total world production, followed by Europe (33.5%) and Africa (6.1%) (FAOSTAT, 2017). According to Jaruche et al (2012), for a good productive performance, rabbits over 20 to 30 days of life should be subjected to an ideal temperature, between 15 and 25 °C and relative humidity between 60 and 70% (Ferreira et al, 2012). Based on these environmental information, the enthalpy (H) can be calculated. In order to improve the thermal comfort inside the facilities, techniques of environmental modifications can be used, for example the use of ridge vent in the house roofing to provide natural ventilation and lighting of environments
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