Effect of pad water flow rate on evaporative cooling system efficiency in laying hen housing

An experiment was conducted in three commercial laying hen houses with 32-week-old hens in the summer of 2017 in a commercial farm in Gharbia Province, Egypt (31.06ºN, 31.16ºE) using an evaporative pad cooling system to determine the most suitable water flow rate for maintaining indoor air temperature within the thermal comfort zone. The experiment was conducted using three different water flow rates, i.e. 4.76, 5.65, and 6.35 L min^–1.m^–2, to assess the effect of different water flow rates on evaporative pad cooling system performance and determine the most suitable water flow rate for maintaining the thermal comfort zone of laying hens. The evaporative pad cooling system maintained the mean indoor air temperature below 28°C. The mean indoor air relative humidity during the experimental period ranged from 72.6 to 73.8%. The 4.76 L min^–1.m^–2 water flow rate resulted in the highest saturation efficiency (ca. 73.75%). In contrast, the 6.35 L min^–1 m^–2 water flow rate resulted in the lowest saturation efficiency (70.63%). The mean cooling energy values were 69.11, 66.0, and 66.65 kwh for water flow rates of 4.76, 5.56, and 6.35 Lmin^–1m^–2, respectively. The highest temperature-humidity index was 27.78°C, which indicated that birds were not stressed in all treatments.