Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets
ABSTRACT: The management of body weight (BW) in broiler breeder pullets is critical to offset the negative correlation between their growth potential and reproductive success. Therefore, a precision feeding system was developed to allocate feed individually based on real-time BW in more frequent, sm...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Poultry Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123000664 |
| _version_ | 1797854355306577920 |
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| author | Charlene Hanlon Martin J. Zuidhof Adriana Rodriguez Kayo Takeshima Grégoy Y. Bédécarrats |
| author_facet | Charlene Hanlon Martin J. Zuidhof Adriana Rodriguez Kayo Takeshima Grégoy Y. Bédécarrats |
| author_sort | Charlene Hanlon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: The management of body weight (BW) in broiler breeder pullets is critical to offset the negative correlation between their growth potential and reproductive success. Therefore, a precision feeding system was developed to allocate feed individually based on real-time BW in more frequent, smaller portions. However, this system requires access beyond the 8 h daylength of the rearing period. Since green and red spectra have been shown to stimulate growth and sexual maturation, respectively, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of continuous supplemental illumination of feeders with monochromatic wavelengths on sexual maturation. Furthermore, the best combination of supplemental and daytime lighting for optimizing the pullet-to-hen transition period was investigated. This study contained a 2 × 4 × 2 factorial arrangement, with 2 daytime lights (dtRED and dtGREEN; n = 2 rooms), 4 supplemental lights (sBLUE, sGREEN, sRED, and sCON; n = 12 pens), and 2 supplemental intensities (High and Low). At 3 wk of age (woa), 480 female Ross 708 chicks were randomly distributed across treatments (n = 10/pen). All birds were feed restricted per management guidelines and maintained under 8 h of dtRED or dtGREEN. Birds were photostimulated at 20 woa with 14L:10D. All birds were weighed weekly, with age at first egg (AFE) and production rate calculated weekly per pen. Birds under sRED were heavier than all other treatments from 27 woa to the end of the study (P < 0.001; 30 woa), resulting in hens that were over 400-g heavier. This resulted from a delayed AFE and lower production rate under sRED, with higher intensity further hindering reproductive performance (P < 0.001). Interestingly, despite the inhibitory effect of continuous red lighting (sRED) on reproduction, dtRED resulted in a 3.15% higher rate of lay than dtGREEN. Therefore, this study suggests that while red light remains superior at stimulating reproduction, continuous red supplemental lighting results in photorefractoriness. Thus, we recommend green light in PF systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:05:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c159453fb5484ff080f5c91ce438018d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0032-5791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:05:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Poultry Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c159453fb5484ff080f5c91ce438018d2023-04-02T06:10:58ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912023-04-011024102542Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pulletsCharlene Hanlon0Martin J. Zuidhof1Adriana Rodriguez2Kayo Takeshima3Grégoy Y. Bédécarrats4Department of Poultry Science, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 38649, USA; Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada; Corresponding author:Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaABSTRACT: The management of body weight (BW) in broiler breeder pullets is critical to offset the negative correlation between their growth potential and reproductive success. Therefore, a precision feeding system was developed to allocate feed individually based on real-time BW in more frequent, smaller portions. However, this system requires access beyond the 8 h daylength of the rearing period. Since green and red spectra have been shown to stimulate growth and sexual maturation, respectively, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of continuous supplemental illumination of feeders with monochromatic wavelengths on sexual maturation. Furthermore, the best combination of supplemental and daytime lighting for optimizing the pullet-to-hen transition period was investigated. This study contained a 2 × 4 × 2 factorial arrangement, with 2 daytime lights (dtRED and dtGREEN; n = 2 rooms), 4 supplemental lights (sBLUE, sGREEN, sRED, and sCON; n = 12 pens), and 2 supplemental intensities (High and Low). At 3 wk of age (woa), 480 female Ross 708 chicks were randomly distributed across treatments (n = 10/pen). All birds were feed restricted per management guidelines and maintained under 8 h of dtRED or dtGREEN. Birds were photostimulated at 20 woa with 14L:10D. All birds were weighed weekly, with age at first egg (AFE) and production rate calculated weekly per pen. Birds under sRED were heavier than all other treatments from 27 woa to the end of the study (P < 0.001; 30 woa), resulting in hens that were over 400-g heavier. This resulted from a delayed AFE and lower production rate under sRED, with higher intensity further hindering reproductive performance (P < 0.001). Interestingly, despite the inhibitory effect of continuous red lighting (sRED) on reproduction, dtRED resulted in a 3.15% higher rate of lay than dtGREEN. Therefore, this study suggests that while red light remains superior at stimulating reproduction, continuous red supplemental lighting results in photorefractoriness. Thus, we recommend green light in PF systems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123000664broiler breederspectrum lightingreproductionproduction |
| spellingShingle | Charlene Hanlon Martin J. Zuidhof Adriana Rodriguez Kayo Takeshima Grégoy Y. Bédécarrats Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets Poultry Science broiler breeder spectrum lighting reproduction production |
| title | Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| title_full | Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| title_fullStr | Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| title_short | Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| title_sort | continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets |
| topic | broiler breeder spectrum lighting reproduction production |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123000664 |
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