ABSTRACT
A general principles mathematical model of a poultry house with a biological model of the laying hen was used to evaluate the effects of climate and housing characteristics on the economic returns derived during a 52 week production cycle. The model of the laying hen included effects of temperature on laying performance. Several geographic areas in Japan were analyzed for either enclosed high density housing, or open low density housing. It was found that the selection of inside target house temperature had a significant influence on the economic returns obtained from the house, suggesting that housing should be operated above the typical levels of 15 centigrade now used. The use of evaporative cooling was shown to increase net economic returns by 200 Yen/(hen housed) for weather conditions typical of the Gifu area. The use of insulation was shown also to increase net economic return, compared to uninsulated housing, but this effect was primarily related only to radianteffects during summer periods.HomePage