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 were analyzed using descriptive statistics, tests of means, variances, trends, and frequencies and the THI was compared to reference data for their interpretation. With hourly values there were estimated the probability of occurrence and the length of period daily. The results indicated in relation to the cycle of daily THI a highly significant effect on the thermal comfort of the animals, which confirms the importance of time of day on the presence of stress in the animals and its daily variation in the cycle, where it was concluded that the normal condition of the animal was present at 4:30 and 8:30, danger from 10:30 to 16:30, and alert from 18:30 to 2:30. The status of risk of stress in the animal intensified with age due to the process of loss and heat gain. In estimating the DWG through the empirical equation used, differences were highly significant (P<0.0001), possibly due to the effect of temperature and humidity rise in animals with weights from 0.9 to 1.5 kg. The estimate of the THI identified stress conditions, variability, and frequency of inter-daily occurrence in a position to farm.
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