When rearing turkeys in open-sided houses, turkey farmers face the same challenge year after year: particularly on damp, cold days in winter and autumn, cold, damp fresh air enters the animal area almost directly via the long sides of the house without first warming up sufficiently – increasing the risk of damp litter and respiratory diseases.

Damp litter can cause the birds to become chilled and may lead to foot pad lesions.

However, if the blinds or flaps remain closed, harmful gases can accumulate in the barn and have an equally negative effect on the animals’ well-being. But what solutions are available?

The litter is also usually dampter around the drinking areas. Here, the use of drinking bars could help to reduce the area of the barn affected by damp litter.

In the three-year PumaZu project, a team comprising three turkey farmers, PAL Stalleinrichtungen GmbH, the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture and the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation tested the combination of traditional natural gravity ventilation with a negative pressure system. Can this lead to an improvement in the barn climate and animal health? In this vodcast, Dr Stephanie Schäfers reports on the project team’s research and experiences.   

Further information on the project can be found in the field report by the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture.