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Poultry lighting
Light is an essential aspect of poultry production. In most housing systems, artificial light is utilized to maximize production in pullets, layers and breeders. Today, a variety of different bulbs are available to illuminate the inside of a poultry house, all of which have benefits and shortcomings. Understanding the different lighting options available for poultry, as well as the terminology and management of light, is essential to achieve the best production. Light is critical for egg production and pullet growth. Domestic poultry see and respond to a different range of light color spectrum and have different spectral intensity responses than humans. While humans respond to light from around 400–750 nm, chickens can see UV-A light (315–400 nm) in addition to 400–750 nm. Additionally, the magnitude of sensitivity for red and blue spectra is much higher for chickens with additional peaks of light sensitivity around 480 nm and 630 nm.
Light and dark cycles within a 24-hour period play a crucial role in maintaining physiological and behavioral rhythms in animals. In birds, daily rhythms associated with feed intake, physical activity, sleep-wake cycles, and physiological rhythms are influenced by photoperiod. The ancestors of domestic chickens, the Red...
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Bright Ideas in Poultry Lighting:
Illuminating species-specific considerations
Thursday May 23rd
9 AM - 12 AM est
via Zoom
Dr. Karen Schwean-Lardner
University of...
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May 14, 2024
Canada - Manitoba - Winnipeg
Commercial egg laying operations can benefit from more effective and economical ways to depopulate flocks at the end-of-lay while improving worker performance and maintaining or improving animal welfare. Recent on-farm research in Switzerland applied portable blue light units and specialized crate carts, seeking to improve depopulation during catching, carrying, and crating without changes to flock housing or other infrastructure. However, neither the blue light nor the cart reduced layer...
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I. INTRODUCTION A hen’s physiological patterns including FI and BW trajectory are established by early lay (Muir et al. 2022). Therefore, management tools such as lighting and feeding programs during rearing may offer opportunities to regulate bird size and establish feeding habits by the end of rearing. This may also influence persistency of lay, egg quality and hen health during an extended laying period. The lighting program during rearing can modify bird age at sexual...
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Smothering is a form of mortality which results from groups of hens pressing together in such a way that some hens are killed presumably due to suffocation. A recent Australian epidemiological study reported that smothering accounted for 11% of mortality across 3 separate organisations and in two separate climate zones in Australia (Hemsworth et al., 2022). Previous surveys of producers in the UK reported a positive correlation between range use on a sunny day and smothering and suggested...
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Piling is an abnormal behavior commonly observed in commercial laying hen flocks. Piling occurs when birds crowd together, usually on top of one another, in a densely packed manner. A piling event may or may not end in smothering. Smothering occurs when one or more birds die due to suffocation from piling. Piling and...
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Water meters are used as a management tool to track daily water usage in poultry houses. Most mechanical water meters used in poultry housing can only measure water flow rates more than 0.25 gals/min which limits reliable measurement of water usage for birds that are less than four days of age. Producers can now accurately measure water usage within minutes of chicks being placed in the house by using ultrasonic water meters. Modern house controllers can collect, store, and graph water...
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Poultry scientists show that a few hours of darkness a day does not harm broiler chicks
Broiler chicks can be provided between 1 to 4 hours of darkness a day without negative consequences, according to a recent study led by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Auburn University.
Their findings, published in The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, address the practice of rearing chicks with constant light during their...
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Garret Ashabranner (University of Georgia) explains the different issues that can be identified by using water meters, in this interview during IPPE 2023 in Atlanta, USA....
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Laying hens are female chickens raised for egg production. The egg production system in the US is currently undergoing a transition from conventional cages to cage-free housing systems. The number of cage-free housing has increased from 4% hens in 2004 to 28% at the end of 2020 (USDA-NASS, 2021). Cage-free systems provide space...
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by Sam Shafer
Poultry scientists find hens prefer lower UVA/B light
A new Poultry Science ® study suggests hens do like sunlight—just not too much. In fact, by monitoring hen behavior under different strengths of UVA and UVB light, the researchers found that hens prefer to spend more time in lower levels...
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by Sam Shafer
Switching from blue to red light in laying operations may benefit birds, but there are caveats
According to new research in The Journal of Applied Poultry Research , hens can benefit from both blue and red light—if these lights are provided at specific points in production. The study, led by scientists at Mississippi,...
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Why do we, for the most part, give our chicks 24 hours of light during brooding? Do chicks actually benefit from being able to eat and drink at 2 am? Though it is widely believed that 24 hours of light is essential to maximizing chick performance and health, preliminary trails have found no significant benefit in doing so. Numerous...
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INTRODUCTION Brazilian poultry industry is highly relevant for the country economy. In 2016 a total of 13 million tons of broiler meat was produced, and nearly 35% was exported. (ABPA, 2017). Broiler production is carried out in several variations of house design. However, most of the production in the integrated system is done in open-sided houses with lateral polypropylene curtains, and with solar orientation East-West. The inside cooling is a combination of natural and forced...
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High pressure sodium (HPS) lights have been used in broiler-breeder houses for decades due to their very high lumen output. The typical 150-watt HPS fixture produces approximately 16,000 lumens of light which is 16 times the amount of light produced by a 75-watt incandescent light bulb. The downside of HPS lighting systems is that in order to...
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INTRODUCTION Broilers and turkeys are traditionally kept under monotonous environmental conditions, which compromise bird welfare due to inactivity, restriction of the behavioural repertoire and various health hazards. Recent development of welfare labels request enrichment devices in order to stimulate the expression of a wide spectrum of behaviours and to improve the physical and psychic conditions of the birds. Consequently there has been a rapid development of studies...
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Introduction Recommendations for lighting programs during the rearing period for broilers generally include a dark period. In Canada, the Codes of Practice for Chickens, Turkeys and Breeders (https://www.nfacc.ca/pdfs/codes/poultry_code_EN.pdf) require that a minimum of 4 hours of continuous dark is included in a photoperiod program from day 5 of placement to no sooner than 7 days prior to catching. However, this remains a controversial subject, and the inclusion of darkness is...
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INTRODUCTION Avian embryogenesis is a perfect platform to examine the effects of exogenous factors on embryonic development due to the physiological independence from the hen (Hill et al., 2004). During incubation, the management of cabinet temperature, humidity, egg turning and air composition are critical to achieving successful artificial incubation. Light is an important exogenous factor for controlling many physiological and behavioral processes in animals but the use of...
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by Sam Shafer
Looking for a golden goose? Try a goose that’s two years old. In a recent study, researchers with the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences found that goose egg yolks (the most valuable part of the egg) tend to be at their largest following the goose’s second laying season.
The Journal of Applied Poultry Research study links a...
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Light plays an important role in controlling the age at sexual maturity in birds; attaining sexual maturity at an appropriate age and weight is the key to reproductive success and the present study was an effort in the same direction. To develop specific practice for quail production and to optimize the best age for photo-stimulation present experiment was conducted. In total 225 females and 75 males of 5 week old were studied. A completely randomized design with three treatment of 5...
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