What to monitor & why
Four readings decide flock health, growth and welfare.
Air quality is one of the most underestimated drivers of bird performance - poor conditions
cause stress, respiratory disease, uneven growth and higher mortality. These are the four
CropWatch tracks, and the numbers the research says to hold.
device_thermostat Temperature
target Hold a tight, age-specific comfort band
Birds only convert feed to weight efficiently inside a narrow comfort zone. Stray above it
and heat stress quietly cuts growth and feed conversion and drives up mortality - long
before birds visibly pant. Brooding chicks need precise heat to build immunity and stay
unstressed.
cloud CO₂ - carbon dioxide
target Target ≤ 3,000 ppm · chicks tolerate ~4,000
ppm
CO₂ is your single best proxy for whether the house is actually ventilating. It climbs
fastest in cold weather and during brooding, when gas heaters run and operators throttle
airflow to save heat - exactly when a sealed house can starve birds of oxygen. Rising CO₂
is the early warning that minimum ventilation is too low.
humidity_percentage Humidity
target Keep 50-70 %RH · the best overall air-quality
indicator
Relative humidity is the most telling single measure of house air quality. Above ~70 %RH
litter turns wet - driving footpad dermatitis, coccidiosis and respiratory problems - and
CO₂ and ammonia climb with it. Below ~60 %RH those gases tend to stay in check. Watch RH
and you see trouble coming.
detector_alarm Ammonia (NH₃) optional
target Keep below 25 ppm
Ammonia irritates birds' lungs, weakens immunity and slows growth and egg production. The
danger is that you can't trust your nose - workers acclimate to the smell within about 20
minutes, so harmful 50-100 ppm levels go unnoticed. A continuous NH₃ reading catches what
people can't.