The Impacts of Body Condition, Microclimate, Wind Speed, and Air Pollutant on Physiological Response of Laying Hen Reared under Tropical Climate

The environmental changes in the animal’s body status could manifest as a physiological response. The present study investigated the impact of body condition, microclimate, wind speed, and air pollutants on the physiological response of laying hens. Therefore, a total of 172 laying hens at 16 weeks of age from Isa Brown were investigated for 5 days. Data on body condition, microclimate, wind speed, and physiological response were recorded and then analyzed using the SEM model by Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling using smartPLS. The obtained result revealed that 59.71% of the physiological response of the chickens (respiratory rate and rectal temperature) reared at the open house system could be predicted by the independent. The microclimate (γ = 0.465) was found to be more effective than body condition (γ = 0.237), wind speed (γ = -0.364), and air pollutant (γ = 0.08). Moreover, it was found that as much as 83.1% of the air pollutants in the open house system could be predicted by the independent variables, and wind speed (γ = -0.890) was more effective than microclimate (γ = 0.074) variables.