Poor air quality in poultry houses causes respiratory disease and distress in billions of birds, representing a widespread but underappreciated welfare concern.
Air quality in poultry houses is a welfare problem that affects billions of birds but receives relatively little public attention compared to space allocation or enrichment. Ammonia accumulating from litter decomposition causes conjunctivitis, respiratory tract irritation, and in high concentrations causes corneal damage and blindness. Chronic exposure to elevated ammonia levels suppresses immune function, increasing disease susceptibility. Dust levels in many poultry houses are high enough to cause respiratory pathology. Birds in inadequately ventilated houses spend their entire lives in air quality conditions that would be considered unacceptable for human workers without respiratory protection. Effective ventilation technology can address these issues, but cost constraints and the absence of mandatory air quality standards for poultry housing mean the problem persists at scale.