Poultry light control in laying hen houses

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2024-04-26

Illumination and control of the layer chicken house

Scientific and reasonable supplementary light can not only promote the normal development of laying hens, reduce morbidity and mortality, but also extend the laying time and increase egg production, which is beneficial to improving the efficiency of laying hen breeding. On the contrary, improper lighting will lead to poor development of laying hens, such as premature or delayed start of production, which will not only affect the egg production rate and egg production throughout the laying period, but also increase the morbidity and mortality of laying hens. And cause huge economic losses to farmers. The lighting control technology for closed laying hens is now introduced as follows for reference.

1. The illumination time control

1.1 The brooding period (0-6 weeks old)

The poultry lighting system is very important for the feeding, drinking, exercise and health of the chicks. However, if the lighting time is too long, the chicks will develop precocious puberty, which will affect future egg production performance; the lighting time is too short, which will affect the activity and feeding of the chicks. amount, causing growth retardation. Generally speaking, chicks should receive 23 hours of light and 1 hour of darkness in the first three days after hatching to adapt to the dark environment and avoid panic during power outages; after 4 days of age, the light time is reduced by 30 minutes a day to 14 days of age. from the 15th day of age, the light exposure time should be reduced to 2 hours per week, and the light exposure time should be reduced to 10 hours at the end of 6 weeks of age.

1.2 Growing period (7-20 weeks old)

Excessive light time during this period will promote premature sexual maturity of laying hens; short light time will lead to delayed maturation, obesity, early egg weight, high dystocia and mortality rates, and a decrease in total egg production. Therefore, from 7 weeks of age to 17 weeks of age, the light time should be 10 hours, starting from 18 weeks of age, increase the light exposure by 1 hour per week, and increase to 12 hours at 20 weeks of age.

1.3 Laying period (21 weeks old- eliminated)

The increase in light time during the laying period can stimulate the secretion of sex hormones and promote egg production, but if the increase is too long, it will increase the egg breakage rate; on the contrary, the decrease in light time will inhibit the secretion of sex hormones and reduce egg production. Therefore, the light time during the laying period should be gradually increased, that is, starting from 21 weeks of age, the light time should be increased by 30 minutes every week until the peak egg production period reaches 16 hours, and then the light time should be increased. The light should be maintained for 16 hours. When the elimination period is approaching (about 59 weeks), the light should be increased again for 30 minutes every week until it reaches 17 hours.

2. the light intensity control

2.1 The brooding period (0-6 weeks old).

Excessive light during this period will affect the nervous function of the chicks and cause bad habits such as feather pecking and anus pecking. However, too little light will make it difficult for the chicks to eat and drink. Generally, the light intensity can be higher in the first three days or the first week, using 20-25 lux (the illumination of a 0.16-watt electric incandescent lamp per square meter is 1 lux); thereafter, as the age increases, the light intensity gradually decreases, and the light intensity at the end of 6 weeks is 1 lux. 5-10 lux.

2.2 Growth period (7-20 weeks old).

Too much light during this period will cause irritability, pecking, drooping and nervousness in the growing chickens; however, if the light is too weak, the feed intake and water drinking of the growing chickens will be reduced, resulting in poor growth and delayed production time. . The optimal light intensity during the growth period is 5-10 lux.

2.3 Laying period (21 weeks old- eliminated).

If the light intensity in this period is too high, which not only wastes electric energy, but also makes laying hens irritable, causing nervousness and frightening groups, prone to fighting, pecking and prolapse; The light intensity is too weak to stimulate the laying hens, thus affecting the egg production. In general, 10-20 lux is the best light intensity in laying period.

3.  The choice of illumination color

The hypothalamus of chickens contains extraretinal photoreceptors that respond differently to light stimulation of different wavelengths. Red light is harmful to the growth and development of chicks and rearing chicks, which delays their sexual maturation, but it is beneficial for laying hens because it can make laying hens quiet, increase egg production and reduce pecking habits; Green light can speed up the weight gain of chicks and speed up the sexual maturity of breeding hens with slow growth and development, but can inhibit the egg production of laying hens and reduce their egg production; Although yellow light can increase the egg weight of laying hens, it delays the sexual maturity of breeding hens and increases the likelihood of pecking in laying hens; Blue light can easily cause addictive pecking and reduce egg production and disease resistance of laying hens. Therefore, incandescent lamps or highly efficient energy-saving lamps should be used in production. The wavelength of this light source ranges from 500 to 625 microns and includes red, orange, yellow, green and other light of all kinds of wavelengths. It can meet the lighting needs of laying hens at different stages without any side effects.

4. Design and layout of lighting system

Light not only affects the ambient temperature in the poultry house, but also affects feed intake, age at sexual maturity, ovulation and egg production of chicks. Sufficient lighting is the key to ensuring normal egg production, timely molting and full productivity of laying hens. Artificial lighting equipment, such as incandescent or high-efficiency energy-saving lamps, is often used in indoor poultry houses to meet the needs of the chicks. In actual production, high-efficiency energy-saving lamps are ideal lighting equipment for poultry houses due to their long service life, low energy consumption, high luminous efficiency, light suitable for human vision, high frequency adjustment, and better meet the physiological needs of chickens.

Proper organization of the lighting system in the chicken coop is a direct guarantee of suitable lighting for laying hens, which is especially important. Because the intensive production of laying hens generally uses battery layer cages and stacked cages, especially the top and bottom layers of laminated cages overlap, and the net height of the cage frame for adult chickens is about 4 m when lamps are installed. at the same level as conventional cage houses, this will inevitably affect the lighting of the lower tier cages. Thus, the lighting system for a poultry house with laminated cages has a two-level arrangement of upper and lower lamps. Typically, the bottom lamp is located 1.8-2 m from the ground, and the top lamp is located 0.2-0.4 m from the top of the coop. This is the only way the lighting conditions for all laying hens will be the same.

5. Summary

5.1. Lighting control must be coordinated with the standard feeding control system.

For example, we must provide nutritious feed and sufficient clean drinking water that can be combined with the feed, the indoor environment must be suitable, and comprehensive epidemic prevention measures must be taken to achieve the desired effect.

5.2. Lighting control should be combined with actual production and properly adjusted depending on the seasonal climate, breed of laying hens, feeding and housing conditions, etc. For laying hens whose average weight is below or above the standard weight, the lighting duration should be appropriate way delayed or increased in advance.

5.3 If conditions permit, poultry farms (households) can use a poultry house lighting controller to automatically turn the lights on and off, which not only ensures accurate lighting timing, but also helps stabilize the light intensity and gradually transition between light and shadow.

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