Poultry feed is very high in fat / calories (same as the sugar content of chocolate cake, without frosting). The energy in such feeds is used by birds to expand, to create more eggs, to fly, as well as to support the key functions of life (breathing, circulating blood, sustaining body temperature, immunity, etc.). Although we consider birds to be very efficient animals, the true statement is that only 25 per cent of the calories in the food consumed are used for these functions, while the remaining 75 per cent are put off in the form of heat – heat the bird has to get rid of in order to maintain normal body temperatures and survive. Many poultry farms are fitted with cooling systems consisting of some sorting of cool cell pads at one end of the field, and large tunnels attract fans at the opposite end. For the key reason of their evaporative cooling practices, poultry farmers must have an appreciation of the interaction between temperature and humidity and the impact it has on chickens. The partnership needs to be both straightforward and complicated.














