Decreasing profit margins and increasing concerns about animal welfare are boosting the interest for the development of monitoring and analysis technologies specifically targeting the poultry meat production process. In this context, this paper addresses one of the most critical steps of such process, the transportation of newborn animals from birth places to breeding farms. Specifically, an intelligent sensor system to monitor ventilation in truck trailers has been designed and validated. Experimental results obtained both in the lab and during real transportation trips are presented to demonstrate the suitability of the proposed system for the target application, in terms of cost, size, power consumption, and ability to operate at low air speeds.