ABSTRACT With the recent increase in the number of acclimatized broiler houses in Brazil, design and adaptation of facilities to withstand the tropical weather conditions enabling the maintenance of ideal conditions without increasing costs have been major challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ventilation system in solid-wall broiler houses using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The research was carried out in the city of Amparo - SP (Brazil). The facility consisted of a broiler house enclosed by masonry sidewalls with tunnel ventilation equipped with exhaust fans (air outlet) and cooling pads (air inlet). The following variables were collected: wind speed and dry bulb temperature over 27 equidistant points inside the house at bird height (0.30 m above the floor), wind speed in inlet – cooling pad, and static pressure in the outlet (exhaust fans) as a boundary condition. The data were monitored at the most critical time of the day – 2 pm during the final rearing stage in summer. The CFD technique allowed visualizing the air flow according to each running condition for exhaust fans, as well as determined the best setting of exhaust fans, avoiding a low air area renewal and turbulence.

ABSTRACT This study aimed at identifying the best gender division pattern for swine at nursery stage, through the evaluation of behavioral and environmental parameters. Three treatments were established to achieve our objective: single-sex housing of 26 surgically castrated male pigs; mixed-sex housing of 13 castrated males and 13 females; and single-sex housing of 26 females. Environmental and behavioral data have been recorded. It was used an ethogram to make an inventory of behaviors and that was used in multivariate analysis. Bite addiction differed statistically among treatments, and the lowest occurrence was in mixed-sex housing. Results of the multivariate analysis suggested that regardless of the treatment chosen, relative humidity is positively associated with the production of gases and dry-bulb temperature with airspeed. Mixed-sex housing had multivariate relations suggesting less aggressive behaviors over food resources, being an example of social interaction that improves swine welfare.

ABSTRACT The kale is a brassica, this vegetable presents importance on nutritional and economic patterns. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different substrates, trays and protected environment in the formation of kale seedlings. The experiment was conducted in two greenhouses located at the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul - MS. The first environment consisted of an agricultural greenhouse with polyethylene film cover, while the second was an agricultural nursery with monofilament screen and mesh to offer 50% of shading. In each protected environment were used 72 and 128 cells tray and six different compositions of substrates with organic material based on cassava branches (CB) and cattle manure (CM): 1) 100% CM; 2) 20% CM + 80% CB; 3) 40% CB + 60% CM; 4) 60% CB + 40% CM; 5) 80% CB + 20% and CM; 6) 100% CB. The seedlings were evaluated according to the parameters: dry mass of seedlings, stem diameter and plant height. The agricultural nursery was the most suitable for the formation of kale seedlings, with 72 cells tray and the substrate composed of organic matter with 20% of cassava branches and 80% of cattle manure.

ABSTRACT Using geostatistics, this study aimed to analyze environmental conditions for wean-to-finish swines at 3 pm, during the most sensitive phases to thermal stress (growth/ finishing and finishing). To this end, dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, air speed, ammonia and carbon dioxide concentrations were measured at 81 equidistant points within the barn. Descriptive statistics was used to classify attribute variability, generating mean, median, variation coefficient, asymmetry and kurtosis, through the normality of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS). For that, it was used Minitab 15 software. Moreover, semivariograms were used to assess spatial dependence using the GS+ software, and through Surfer, spatial distribution maps were designed. Dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity showed a more homogeneous distribution whether compared to the other attributes. Furthermore, critical points were observed within the facility, with temperatures and low humidity, indicating the need for fogging equipment and fans to improve thermal comfort and animal welfare.

RESUMO O “wean to finish” é um sistema de criação de suínos, no qual os animais permanecem em uma mesma instalação do desmame até à fase de abate. Objetivou-se estudar o comportamento dos animais em alojamento exclusivo de 26 machos suínos (T1), misto (T2), contendo 13 machos e 13 fêmeas, e o tratamento único de fêmeas (T3), com 26 animais. Para isso, utilizou-se da análise multivariada, por meio da análise dos gráficos de componentes principais, por ser um artifício interessante utilizado por diversos pesquisadores para identificar quais variáveis são fortemente ou não correlatas. Assim, indica-se que o aumento da temperatura ambiental predispõe ao comportamento deitado em todos os tratamentos avaliados. No tratamento exclusivo de suínos machos castrados cirurgicamente, o comportamento de monta relaciona-se com vício, já o agrupamento misto, monta associa-se com lúdico. Todavia, fêmeas suínas alojadas unicamente não tendem a praticar o comportamento de monta.

ABSTRACT The "wean to finish" is a pig housing system, in which animals remains in the same building from the weaning to slaughter. The objective was to study the behavior of animals in unique accommodation of 26 male pigs (T1), mixed (T2), containing 13 males and 13 females, and the only treatment of females (T3) with 26 animals. For this, we used multivariate analysis, by analyzing the principal components, as an interesting tool used by many researchers to identify which variables are strongly correlated or not. Thus, we observed the main trends and characteristics in each treatment. The increase in air temperature has caused the behavior of lying down in every treatment. Only in the male treatment, the mount behavior is related to addiction, however in the mixed treatment the mount is related to a playful behavior. Only female pigs’ treatment did not show any mount behavior.

O sistema de ventilação e de resfriamento utilizado em instalações para frangos de corte desempenha um papel importante no controle ambiental, possibilitando que a ave expresse seu potencial máximo de produção. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar, por meio da geoestatística, a influência do sistema de ventilação e das diferentes tipologias construtivas em relação ao ambiente térmico e aéreo em aviários de frangos de corte na fase final de criação. Os aviários avaliados com sistema de ventilação artificial de pressão negativa, por meio de exaustores, foram: Blue House com nebulizadores na entrada de ar e vedação de cortinas; Dark House com painel evaporativo (tijolo cerâmico) e vedação de cortinas e Solid Wall com painel evaporativo (celulose) e vedação de alvenaria. Os atributos avaliados foram: temperatura, umidade relativa, velocidade do ar, concentração de dióxido de carbono e amônia, durante o período de verão às 14h, em 52 pontos equidistantes, no interior do aviário. Os dados foram avaliados pela análise estatística e geoestatística. A análise geoestatística apresentou-se como ferramenta eficiente para a avaliação da distribuição das condições ambientais nos aviários, e a presença ou não do painel evaporativo influenciou na condição padrão de funcionamento do sistema de ventilação.

The ventilation and cooling systems are important to environmental control inside broilers house enabling the bird to express the maximum potential of production. The aim of this study was to evaluate, using geostatistical analysis, the influence of the ventilation system and the different typologies of building in relation to thermal welfare and air quality in broilers house with birds in the final phase. The broiler facilities evaluated were: Blue House - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and nebulizers, Dark House - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and pad cooling and Solid Wall - ventilation systems with exhaust fans and pad cooling. The attributes evaluated were dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, concentration of carbon dioxide and ammonia, during the summer time at 2PM on 52 equidistant points inside the building. The data analysis was by statistical and geostatistical. Geostatistical analysis was an efficient tool to evaluate distribution of environmental conditions in the broilers houses and was able to identify the influence of presence or absence of evaporative panel inside conditions.

O "wean to finish" é um sistema de criação de suínos que ainda é novo no Brasil, e não existem muitos estudos a respeito do ambiente onde estes animais são criados. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o ambiente térmico e aéreo por meio da técnica da geoestatística em galpão de suínos criados no sistema "wean to finish", na fase de terminação, nos horários das 09h, 12h e 15h. A variabilidade dos atributos foi baseada na estatística descritiva dos dados de temperatura, umidade relativa, velocidade do ar, concentrações de amônia e dióxido de carbono, obtendo-se: média, mediana, coeficiente de variação, assimetria e curtose, com o teste de normalidade de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, através do programa estatístico Minitab 15. Para a determinação da existência ou não da dependência espacial, utilizou-se do exame de semivariograma, através do programa GS+, e, na elaboração dos mapas de distribuição espacial das variáveis, foi utilizado o programa Surfer. Os atributos de velocidade do ar e as concentrações dos gases NH3 e CO2 apresentaram alto coeficiente de variação devido aos dados serem heterogêneos, pois a instalação apresentava ventilação natural. O uso dos mapas de krigagem permitiu observar a diferença espacial da distribuição das variáveis avaliadas com diferentes números de animais/baia e em diferentes horários.

The "wean to finish" is a new pig production system in Brazil. To date, few research have investigated the environmental conditions of this pig farming system. The aim of this study was to evaluated the thermal environmental conditions and gases concentration using geostatistical techniques of a wean-to-finish barn during finishing phase at 9AM, 12PM e 3PM. The data variability was evaluated by the descriptive analysis, of the temperatures, relative humidity, air velocity, ammonia and carbon dioxide concentration. The results showed the average, median, coefficient of variation, asymmetry and curtosis and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test with the software Minitab 15. To determine the spatial dependence, the semivariogram exam was done, with the software GS+. The air velocity and gases concentration showed the highest coefficient of variation. This has happened because of the heterogeneity of the data caused by the natural ventilation. The Krigging maps showed the spacial differences of the pens with different numbers of animals in different hour of the day.