Aplicación del índice de confort térmico como estimador de periodos críticos en cría de pollos de engorde

To estimate the thermal comfort index (THI) and critical periods (frequency, persistence) in the rearing of broiler chickens, there were generated climatic data of temperature and humidity daily with a frequency of 10 minutes between measures during the dry period (february to march 2006) in an area of commercial production of broilers, located in central Venezuela. The THI was determined for 24 hours from admission to exit of the animals, with calculation of probability of occurrence and persistence of the event and implementation of thresholds and regression equations developed for the birds to estimate the daily weight gain (DWG) on animals. Data obtained