Chicken production has shown that changing light colors impact chicken growth and physiological processes. Red and green lights have an influence on chicken growth, development, egg production, and so on. Thus, everyone should avoid bright-colored taboos in chicken farming:
Red light
Red light affects the development of chicks and young fowls and delays sexual maturity. Chickens and young chickens should not be illuminated with a red light. Red light suppresses breeding roosters' sexual function, decreasing egg fertilization.
Green light.
Green light reduces adult hens' egg-laying performance by decreasing egg-laying rate, peak egg-laying time, breeding egg quality, and chick hatching and survival. Thus, green lighting should not be used for laying and producing hens.
Blue light.
Blue light may easily promote chicken pecking, lower disease resistance at all ages, and reduce adult hen egg production. Chickens should not be exposed to blue light throughout their lives.
Yellow light.
Yellow light lowers adult hen egg production and breeder hen fertilization, hence it is not allowed for them. Yellow light may encourage chickens to peck, thus it is not suggested for all ages.
Changing the color of breeders' apparel on a frequent basis might also be harmful to chicks. Chickens get friendlier when they identify a chicken keeper's outfit color. When the breeders enter the chicken house, the chickens get aroused, hungry, and eat more. If the breeders alter their dress, the chickens will get frightened, restless, and eat less, resulting in decreased growth and egg output. Chicken caregivers should not change their clothes at will and should avoid wearing light-colored outer clothing.
What type of led poultry light to choose?
Most people believe that warm white and warm yellow light are most suited for laying chickens. The color temperature of the light ranges from 2700 to 3500K. The light in this range provides an adequate red spectrum, which may help laying hens grow and develop, as well as reach sexual maturity. The higher the color temperature, the lighter the light color; the lower the color temperature, the redder (yellower) the light color.
If the color temperature is too low (less than 2700K), the light becomes excessively red, and issues such as early sexual maturity of developing hens and unduly big eggs are more likely to occur. If the color temperature is too high (over 3500K), the light becomes excessively white and the red spectrum is insufficient, which is detrimental to the development of the reproductive system and secondary sexual characteristics. Furthermore, cold white light with a high color temperature (6000K) causes significant stress in caged hens, resulting in metabolic problems, irritability, poor physical fitness, and an inability to respond to diverse sexual stimuli.
Uniform brightness, energy savings, and cheap maintenance may overcome these issues.
Laying chickens need consistent illumination. Upper and lower layers, lamp bottom, and two lamps should be similar in brightness. Thus, while selecting illumination lights, power, distance, and height should be suitable. LED bulbs are better for laying hens than incandescent and energy-saving lighting for cost and upkeep. LED bulbs are 10 times brighter than incandescent lamps and 2-5 times brighter than energy-saving lighting with the same power.
When Hailan brown laying hens lay, they need 16 hours of light at 30 lux, 3 meters between the lamps, and 2 meters in height. If these numbers are calculated, incandescent bulbs have 60 watts, energy-saving lamps 15 watts, and LED lamps 5 or 6 watts.
Various laying hen breeds have somewhat differing light intensity needs. Hailan brown laying hens need 30 lux while laying, whereas Yukou Company's Jinghong and Jingfen line need 10-20 lux.
Due to various reflecting circumstances in the chicken house and lamp quality, the lighting lamp power should be selected based on the actual lamp power measurement when the illuminance meter reaches the desired illumination. Measure the light intensity between the two lights and the bottom chicken cage feed bowl using the illuminance meter.
To compensate for the hens' low light intensity between two rows of lighting bulbs, place them crosswise. In an H-type cage, the same-row illumination lights may be raised and lowered. Figure following shows the arrangement:
Light color
Use 2700-3500K warm light. Incandescent and warm LED bulbs (mainly 2700K and 3000K) are popular nowadays.
