Supplemental table for "Adaptation and Validation of the CO₂Balance Method for Ventilation Rate Estimation in Laying Hen Houses"

This study aims to adapt and validate the carbon dioxide (CO₂) balance method for VR prediction in laying hen houses. The adaptation was based on the CO₂ balance method from the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), which considers variables such as the CO₂ production rate of hens (PRCO2), animal activity (AA), and the respiratory quotient of laying hens (RQ). The resulting adaptations included setting AA to 1, RQ to 0.9 during the day and 0.85 at night, and PRCO2 to 18% during the day and 8% at night. The adjusted model demonstrated an R² of 0.63 for VR prediction when the difference between exhaled and inlet CO₂ was less than 150 ppm. At the experimental level, all evaluated housing systems showed an R² greater than 0.63 and an average RMSE of 0.35 m³ h⁻¹ hen⁻¹. At the commercial level, housing systems exhibited an average predicted R² of 0.71 and an RMSE of 1.68 m³ h⁻¹ hen⁻¹. The adapted CO₂ balance method presented good predictive values across laboratory and commercial experiments.