I hope this is not copyright infringement, but this is a quote from "Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry" by Leanard S. Mercia:
Lighting Programs for Young Stock: During the first 3 or 4 days provide the chicks with 22 hours of light.....After the initial period, give careful attention to the lighting schedule for chicks grown for layers. Birds are very responsive to light....If growing birds are exposed to an increasing day length, particularly toward the end of the growing period, they will mature sexually at too early an age. The result will be smaller eggs, which are less valuable than the largest sizes. Total egg production may be lower, and there may be a high incidence of prolapse of the uterus and other problems. The rule of thumb to follow is never expose laying birds to decreasing day length, and never expose growing pullets to an increasing day length.
....Start chicks on 22 hours of light for the first week of age. Reduce day length to 18 hours in week 2 and 16 hours in week 3. Light intensity during growth should be 5 to 10 lux (0.5-1 foot candle) at bird level.
What does this mean for those of us raising chicks as day length lengthens? Or who are using red brooder lamps to heat our pullets outside during cold nights? I don't know. I do have a light meter that I use at work in the greenhouses and I can check the light intensity tomorrow night from a 100 watt red flood light at bird level. One question I have is does constant light have the same effect as increasing or decreasing light? The other obvious question is, does red light have the same effect as white incandescent bulbs or fluorescent tubes?
I tried googling "chickens and photoperiodism"and found a lot on light regimes and the poultry industry. Quite a bit as well in scientific abstracts on photoperiodism and the interaction of the endocrine and nervous systems in poultry. If anyone knows the answers to these questions--please let us know. I can't just turn the light off at night--and the pullets are way too big to come back in the house. I can't beleive this is really a big deal--at least I hope its not.
This message was edited Apr 9, 2008 12:44 AM
Pullets, Laying and Lighting
been trying ot get to this thread all day. everyone keeps hogging the pc everytime i walk away...
this is very interesting. i will follow it and see what happens. i gave my laying hens a winter break from the long day lights... hmmmm....