Be taught extra about poultry lighting applications
23 Might 2024
5 minute learn
Editor’s observe: This text is an excerpt from the Cobb Breeder Administration Information and extra articles will comply with. The Information was designed to spotlight crucial elements which might be more than likely to affect flock efficiency. To learn or obtain the whole Information or to view Cobb’s different administration guides, click on right here.
There are 3 lighting applications based mostly on housing configurations:
- Darkish out rearing to pure daylight manufacturing.
- Darkish out rearing to darkish out manufacturing.
- Pure daylight / brown out rearing to pure daylight manufacturing.
Darkish out rearing to pure daylight manufacturing
Darkish out homes ought to present complete gentle management. Begin chicks on 23 hours of sunshine decreasing to eight hours by two weeks of age (see part 2.3 in brooding design). The 8-hour day size will start when feed cleanup occasions and bodyweights are on customary. Typically, the 8-hour day size can begin when the birds eat their on a regular basis restricted feed in 4 hours or much less – often 14 to fifteen days. The 8-hours of sunshine day size will proceed till 21 to 22 weeks (147 to 154 days) of age when picture stimulation begins.
In rearing, 9 hours of sunshine are used when the birds are being transferred to open sided manufacturing homes through the summer time months with a pure gentle length of greater than 13 hours. An alternative choice is to picture stimulate the hens within the rearing home between 147 to 154 days of age by rising synthetic gentle from 8 to 12 hours. Hens then are transferred at 154 days of age and given 15 to 16 hours of pure day gentle, which will forestall over stimulation. It’s not at all times potential to use this program based mostly on the down time between flocks. The synthetic gentle system should present a minimal of fifty and a most of 100 lux (5 to 10 fc) through the manufacturing interval, with 70 lux (7 fc) being an excellent common gentle depth for females and males.
Most pure gentle hours will at all times rely on the placement’s latitude for open sided homes. Flocks being transferred in autumn can obtain solely a most of 14 hours of pure gentle, however flocks transferred to open manufacturing homes in the summertime might want to modify the utmost gentle to the native hours of pure daylight.
Quick feather females – picture stimulation begins between 147 and 154 days. Gradual feather females – 150 to 154 days. In excessive circumstances, when females are beneath weight and beneath fleshed with inadequate pelvic fats reserves, picture stimulation might be delayed to 161 days.
Pure daylight or brown out rearing to pure daylight manufacturing
It’s not really useful to rear breeders in pure daylight homes. Nonetheless, this rearing system is efficiently utilized in areas near the equator the place the variation in pure day size is minimal. Throughout rearing the flocks can stay on pure gentle in all seasons till picture stimulation. This system used will rely on pure day size when the flock reaches 140 days of age. When the pure day size is inadequate, present further gentle at each the start and the top of the pure day gentle interval to make certain that the meant day size is achieved. Further gentle added throughout this era should be 80 to 100 lux (8 to 10 ft candles) to make sure that the birds are stimulated sufficiently.
Brown out rearing homes use a black shade material, plastic or mixture of each positioned alongside the edges of the home from the roof down. This method blocks as much as 80 % of the pure gentle, therefore the time period brown out rearing. The problem with this method is discovering the steadiness between darkening the home and air flow.
Brown out rearing might be profitable in housing located in areas the place the pure gentle hours don’t differ considerably. In areas exterior 10º latitude north and south, day size variability will induce a delayed onset of manufacturing, inflicting dramatic drops in hatching eggs.
In open-sided and windowed homes, native day size circumstances require {that a} particular program be adopted for every flock which might be optimized with the technical companies consultant.
Flock Sexual Uniformity
Flock uniformity larger than 70 % permits simultaneous will increase in gentle length (+4 hours) and depth. Simultaneous will increase will guarantee a lot of the flock will probably be stimulated and a excessive sexual uniformity might be obtained. On this approach, most of females will take part in peak manufacturing.Â
When uniformity is poor, the birds within the flock that aren’t but prepared for picture stimulation (beneath weight, beneath fleshed, too little pelvic fats) can be overstimulated. Picture stimulating birds that aren’t prepared could lead to decrease peak manufacturing and persistency with larger numbers of double yolks, flooring eggs, egg peritonitis, mortality, and culls. Due to this fact, when flock uniformity is lower than 70 %, the flock would require extra and smaller incremental will increase in gentle length and depth. For these flocks, it is really useful to first Enhance gentle depth to 30 to 35 lux (3 to three.5 fc) and enhance gentle length for 3 hours (from 8 to 11 hours per day). Per week later, enhance gentle length for an extra 2 hours (from 11 to 13 hours per day) and depth to a minimal of fifty lux (5 fc). The ultimate enhance ought to be per week later to an depth of 70 lux (7 fc) in addition to rising length for an extra hour (see desk beneath for particulars).
Men and women can comply with the identical lighting and picture stimulation program previous to mixing. Nonetheless, if males are reared individually, the gentle program for males might be completely different from the females relying on the male line used. See particular lighting suggestions for every male line in our dietary supplements (https://www.cobb-vantress.com/useful resource/product-supplementsuseful resource/product-supplements).
