Keep Your Cool: Essential Ventilation Tips for Turkey Barns

This article explores the latest strategies, systems, and best practices to help you create the ideal environment for your flock, reduce heat stress, and maximize profitability.

Proper poultry ventilation is essential for maintaining optimal air quality, temperature, and humidity within the barn. Ventilation systems work by exchanging stale, moisture-laden, and contaminated air with fresh, oxygen-rich air, directly impacting bird comfort and health.

One thing to keep in mind is that the efficiency of the exhaust fans, and therefore the air velocity, depends on the static pressure in the building. Static pressure, or a tight house requires proper use of air inlets. Air velocity can be reduced by several other factors such as Pad-Cooling cells, age of the fans, poor fan maintenance or obstacles such as light shutters upstream and downstream from the fans. 

Tunnel ventilation systems have become the gold standard for cooling barns during hot weather. By drawing air through large tunnel doors and across the length of the barn with high-capacity fans, these systems create a wind-chill effect that can lower the perceived temperature by up to 10°C (18°F), dramatically reducing heat stress in turkeys. Properly sealed tunnel doors and well-maintained fans are essential for maximizing air velocity and cooling efficiency.

The configuration and maintenance of exhaust fans and air inlets are critical for achieving uniform air distribution and effective environmental control. Strategic placement of inlets and fans, combined with regular cleaning and inspection, prevents stagnant zones and ensures that fresh air reaches every corner of the barn.

Advanced cooling systems, such as evaporative cooling pads and high pressure fogging pumps, provide additional temperature control during peak heat periods. These systems can be effective to reduce temperatures, but be aware that they will add humidity into the air. If the humidity is too high, birds will pant and experience stress as they try to cool down. For this reason you should not use evaporative cooling when the Rh (relative humidity) is >80%. The drier the air at the time of using the evaporative cooling, the more evaporation can occur, and the greater the cooling effect.

Cool cells can produce up to 20˚F (11˚C) of cooling. If you are in a region that regularly reaches high temperatures in the summer, cool cells will be worth the investment to keep your birds comfortable.

High pressure fogging systems are slightly less efficient than cooling pads, but it is an easier system to install, especially in existing buildings, and easier to maintain.  

Routine fan maintenance is vital for sustaining high air velocity and efficient barn ventilation. Worn belts, dirty blades, and clogged shutters can reduce fan efficiency by up to 30%, compromising air flow and cooling performance. Incorporate regular inspections and cleaning into your maintenance schedule.

For more information on optimizing your barn ventilation systems, explore our resources on

• Tunnel ventilation
• Hot weather management
• Heat stress checklist

These resources provide in-depth product information tailored to the needs of turkey growers.