52 May, 2015 Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal Open access at http://www.cigrjournal.org Special issue 2015 Effect of roofing material type on microclimate in the sheep buildings M. H. Hatem * , E. Mostafa, N. Hussein (Agriculture EngineeringDepartment, Faculty of Agric., Cairo UniversityGiza, Egypt) Abstract: A study was conducted on description of the sheep houses (materials, location, orientation etc) and its effect on microenvironment in two housing (concrete roofing material, Iron sheet roofing material) in Giza, Egypt.In order to select the appropriate type of housing that provides the best inside climate throughout making adjustment in housing. During the experimental period, maximum temperature was recorded under Iron sheet and lowest temperature as in Concrete. The maximumprotection from high temperature was given in concrete than in Iron sheet. Adjustment of temperature and relative humidity through the day wassuccessful underconcrete than Iron sheet. Keywords: sheep housing, roofing material, microclimate, building in hot climate, temperature – humidity index (THI) Citation: M. H. Hatem, E. Abdel-Moniem, A. N. Hussein. 2015. Effect of roofing material type on microclimate in the sheep buildings. Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, Special issue 2015: 18th World Congress of CIGR: 52-56. 1 Introduction Housing system is considered as an important factor affecting animal performance and behavior. It mitigates the climatic stress, saves labor, controls disease vectors, and harvests the products. It increases the efficiency of breeding and milk production. In addition, allows better control of feed intake and its quality (Wagner et al., 2003). Housing and management practices can be a source of stress for sheep and domestic animals. Climatic conditions have direct and indirect effects on production and reproduction of livestock. The high environmental temperature and lack of feed may restrict sexual activity months of the year in the tropics, Hafez (2000) and El-Sayed (2003). The number of Sheep in Egypt was estimated in 2011 to be 55.9 million head (FAO, 2012).There are three Received date: 2014-12-02 Accepted date: 2015-04-01 * Corresponding author: M. H. Hatem, Ph.D., Professor of Agric. Eng. Dept., Faculty of Agric., Cairo Univ., Giza, EGYPT.Tel:+20235738000, Fax:+20235717355.Email: hatem@cu.edu.eg., mhatem15@hotmail.com breeds in Egypt: Rahmani, Osseimi and Barki. Rahmani is the largest breed and then followed by Osseimi and Barki.Recently, Marai et al. (2006) reported that the common sheep-breeding season in Egypt is at May–June, during which the climate is hot with rapid and sudden fluctuations. During this breeding season, temperature rises, this difficult weather effect on reducing the productive and reproductive performance of sheep. This condition let us to care of searching about the proper housing system. Selecting a building for the livestock farm should include all the personal needs of the breeder in addition to the livestock needs. This should be done at a minimal cost to the farm enterprise. Selecting an appropriate site for a new animal facility is one of the most important steps in the animal design process, Martin (1998).Animal production is based on the inter play of animal and environment. The farmer can manipulate both factors in order to reach an optimal result. In any micro climate, individual cattle should ideally be able to select for themselves the microclimate that they find affords