Effects of Ventilation Fans and Type of Partitions on the Airflow Speeds of Animal Occupied Zone and Physiological Parameters of Dairy Pre-Weaned Calves Housed Individually in a Barn

Wanying Zhao, Christopher Y. Choi, Xinyi Du, Huiyuan Guan, Hao Li () and Zhengxiang Shi
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Wanying Zhao: Department of Agricultural Structure and Bioenvironmental Engineering, College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Christopher Y. Choi: Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 460 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Xinyi Du: Department of Agricultural Structure and Bioenvironmental Engineering, College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Huiyuan Guan: Department of Agricultural Structure and Bioenvironmental Engineering, College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Hao Li: Department of Agricultural Structure and Bioenvironmental Engineering, College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Zhengxiang Shi: Department of Agricultural Structure and Bioenvironmental Engineering, College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: Calves raised in barns are usually kept in individual pens separated by either solid or mesh partitions. To quantify the effects that the two types of partition have on airflow speed in an axial-ventilated-barn, the indoor environment of a calf barn was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with validation accomplished by means of direct measurement. To ascertain the effects that two types of partition have on the physiological parameters and health of pre-weaned calves, 24 calves (3–11-day-olds) were selected, equally divided into four groups and sequestered as follows: calves placed in pens separated by solid partitions receiving “low-speed” or “high-speed” airflow; calves separated by mesh partitions receiving “low-speed” or “high-speed” airflow. The results of the CFD simulation showed that the percentage of airflow speed that exceeded 0.5 m s −1 at a height of 0.4 m above the floor of the animal occupied zone where calves were separated by mesh partitions was 88%, while the speed was 66–70% for calves separated by solid partitions. The duration of treatment provided to the calves in the MP-LA (mesh partitions and subjected to a low-speed airflow) and MP-HA (mesh partitions and subjected to a high-speed airflow) groups, were both lower than the SP-LA (solid partitions and subjected to a low-speed airflow) and SP-HA (solid partitions and subjected to a high-speed airflow) groups. We conclude that when the fan is operating, contact between calves separated by mesh partitions produces no negative impact on the health of calves; furthermore, this arrangement can provide a higher airflow speed than that delivered to calves raised in pens separated by solid partitions, especially to those calves in pens farther from the fans.

Keywords: ventilation; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); mesh partitions; solid partitions; health status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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