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Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

DOI

10.3906/vet-2007-30

Abstract

Artificial light, in terms of its intensity and color, is of significant importance for the performance of laying hens. In this study, the efforts were made to evaluate the effect of different light-emitting diode (LED)-based light colors on production performance, welfare, and egg quality attributes of Lohmann LSL lite hens in an open-sided house. For this, 200 commercial laying hens were distributed into 4 treatment groups, having 5 replicates of 10 birds each. The treatments included different LED colors, i.e. white, monochromatic green, monochromatic red, and dichromatic red?green. Green light significantly increased body weight as compared to other LED light colors. Egg number and overall egg production percentage were higher in birds maintained under red LED. Egg mass was better under white light as compared to the rest of the treatments. Feed conversion ratio per dozen eggs and kg egg mass were better in birds reared under red and white LED lights, respectively. Initially, footpad dermatitis and feather cleanliness scores were not influenced by the light color; however, significant effects were recorded at 50 weeks of age. Hormonal profiles of laying birds also revealed several differences at 50 weeks of age under different LED light colors. Keeping in view the overall production performance and considering the fitness of the bird, red LED light may best serve the purpose.

Keywords

LED light colors, production performance, egg quality, hormonal profile, and welfare

First Page

1269

Last Page

1278

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