Ventilation failure in poultry buildings causes rapid welfare emergencies through heat stress. Understanding these events and prevention measures helps protect millions of birds from preventable deaths.
Ventilation failure causes acute heat stress that is one of the most distressing welfare emergencies in commercial poultry. Birds experience panting, prostration, loss of coordination and cardiovascular collapse as body temperature rises beyond the ability to dissipate heat. Death occurs quickly but the preceding minutes involve acute distress. Mass mortality events from ventilation failure kill thousands of birds simultaneously and represent catastrophic welfare failures. The frequency of these events, while reduced by modern alarm and backup systems, remains significant. Climate change is increasing baseline temperatures against which ventilation systems must work, reducing the safety margin and increasing the risk of failures causing heat stress even when systems are functioning normally.