Poultry encyclopedia · NEXTEKCI School · Farm equipment
Poultry house lighting (bulbs and lighting programme)
Lighting helps chicks find water and feed, then governs the birds’ activity and, in layers, egg production. About 25 lux during brooding, evenly spread light with no dark corners, a reliable timer and a back-up power supply.
Key facts
- Brooding (up to 7 days or 160 g)
- About 25 lux at bird level
- After that (broilers)
- Gradually reduced to 5 to 10 lux
- Uniformity
- No more than 20% difference from one spot to another
- Broilers
- From 100 to 160 g, night lengthened to 6 continuous hours
- Layers in lay
- 16 hours of light from 24 weeks
- Bulbs
- Cleaned and checked every week
What lighting is for
In the first days, light helps chicks find water and feed. After that, it governs the birds’ activity: when they eat and when they rest. In layers, day length governs the hen’s maturity and egg laying. In an open-sided house, daylight does most of the work: artificial lighting tops it up.
Installing the bulbs
Spread the lamps evenly along the whole length, pointing at the floor: light at floor level should not vary by more than 20% from one place to another, with no dark corners where the weakest birds hide. For the first 5 days, attraction lamps above the brooders draw chicks towards heat, water and feed; general lighting is then increased gradually up to 10 days.
The electrical installation stays away from water and out of the birds’ reach, with a reliable timer.
The broiler programme
Day one: light 24 hours a day, bright (about 25 lux), so chicks find water and feed. From the second night: a single dark period per 24 hours, always at the same time, which also gets the birds used to darkness in case of a power cut.
When chicks weigh 100 to 160 g, the night is lengthened gradually: 6 hours of continuous darkness strengthen the bird’s defences. Intensity then drops to 5 to 10 lux. In the last days before sale, the night is shortened by one hour a day.
The layer programme
In hot countries, light is reduced during rearing and then increased to bring hens into lay: 22 then 20 hours in the first week, 18 hours at 3 weeks, 16 hours at 5 weeks, 14½ hours at 8 weeks, 12½ hours at 12 weeks, 12 hours from 13 to 18 weeks (or natural day length from 14 weeks). Then one more hour at 19, 20 and 21 weeks, half an hour more at 22 and 23 weeks, and 16 hours from 24 weeks.
Two absolute rules: never increase the light before the pullets reach the right weight, and never reduce it during lay. Total day length is natural daylight plus supplementary lighting before sunrise or after sunset.
Maintenance and common mistakes
Clean and check the bulbs every week: a dirty bulb gives less light. Check the timer and keep spare bulbs. Plan a back-up power supply: in layers, a power cut that shortens the day makes laying drop for weeks.
Frequent mistakes: bulbs too far apart or dirty, dark corners; a timer out of adjustment or hours that change from day to day; a night guard who switches off early; light increased too soon for pullets that are too light.