Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers
Light is an important factor affecting the feather pecking behavior in poultry. To evaluate the quality of lighting in production of a local broiler breed, this study was designed to investigate the effects of light color on the growth performance (body weight, feed conversion ratio and upper beak l...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Poultry Science |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124012343 |
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| author | Chenghao Pan Rong Xiang Jinming Pan |
| author_facet | Chenghao Pan Rong Xiang Jinming Pan |
| author_sort | Chenghao Pan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Light is an important factor affecting the feather pecking behavior in poultry. To evaluate the quality of lighting in production of a local broiler breed, this study was designed to investigate the effects of light color on the growth performance (body weight, feed conversion ratio and upper beak length), welfare parameters (walking step, plumage damage and hormone level) relating to feather pecking and their correlations. One hundred and twenty 49-day-old Youhuang broilers were randomly distributed into 3 lighting treatment groups (warm white, cold white and red) and reared for 4 weeks. The results showed that the lighting had no significant effect on the growth performance (P > 0.05). The daily walking steps of birds in cold white group were greater than birds in warm white and red group at 8 (P < 0.05) rather than 9 to 11 (P > 0.05) weeks of age. Compared with birds in red group, the birds in cold white group had lower plumage scores (P < 0.05) and the birds in warm white group had similar plumage scores (P > 0.05). Lower scores meant severer plumage damage. Moreover, the plumage scores of backs and wings were both lower than those on tails (P < 0.05). The serotonin levels in blood of birds in warm white group were greater than those in cold white group (P < 0.05) but lower than those in red group (P < 0.05). However, during the entire study, there were no correlations among body weight gain ratios, upper beak length gain ratios, average daily walking steps, total plumage scores of different body parts, and serotonin levels of 24 selected birds in three light treatment groups (P > 0.05). Considering the friendliness of white light to human eye, warm white light should be recommended to reduce pecking behavior in production. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-68647f7ef0d84333beadbd2f462d82dc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0032-5791 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Poultry Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-68647f7ef0d84333beadbd2f462d82dc2025-01-22T05:40:52ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912025-01-011041104656Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilersChenghao Pan0Rong Xiang1Jinming Pan2College of Quality and Standardization, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China; College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaCollege of Quality and Standardization, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaCollege of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Equipment Technology, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Corresponding author at: College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.Light is an important factor affecting the feather pecking behavior in poultry. To evaluate the quality of lighting in production of a local broiler breed, this study was designed to investigate the effects of light color on the growth performance (body weight, feed conversion ratio and upper beak length), welfare parameters (walking step, plumage damage and hormone level) relating to feather pecking and their correlations. One hundred and twenty 49-day-old Youhuang broilers were randomly distributed into 3 lighting treatment groups (warm white, cold white and red) and reared for 4 weeks. The results showed that the lighting had no significant effect on the growth performance (P > 0.05). The daily walking steps of birds in cold white group were greater than birds in warm white and red group at 8 (P < 0.05) rather than 9 to 11 (P > 0.05) weeks of age. Compared with birds in red group, the birds in cold white group had lower plumage scores (P < 0.05) and the birds in warm white group had similar plumage scores (P > 0.05). Lower scores meant severer plumage damage. Moreover, the plumage scores of backs and wings were both lower than those on tails (P < 0.05). The serotonin levels in blood of birds in warm white group were greater than those in cold white group (P < 0.05) but lower than those in red group (P < 0.05). However, during the entire study, there were no correlations among body weight gain ratios, upper beak length gain ratios, average daily walking steps, total plumage scores of different body parts, and serotonin levels of 24 selected birds in three light treatment groups (P > 0.05). Considering the friendliness of white light to human eye, warm white light should be recommended to reduce pecking behavior in production.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124012343LightFeather peckingBroilerGrowth performanceWelfare parameter |
| spellingShingle | Chenghao Pan Rong Xiang Jinming Pan Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers Poultry Science Light Feather pecking Broiler Growth performance Welfare parameter |
| title | Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| title_full | Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| title_fullStr | Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| title_short | Lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| title_sort | lighting quality evaluation on growth performance and feather pecking behavior of broilers |
| topic | Light Feather pecking Broiler Growth performance Welfare parameter |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124012343 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chenghaopan lightingqualityevaluationongrowthperformanceandfeatherpeckingbehaviorofbroilers AT rongxiang lightingqualityevaluationongrowthperformanceandfeatherpeckingbehaviorofbroilers AT jinmingpan lightingqualityevaluationongrowthperformanceandfeatherpeckingbehaviorofbroilers |