Effects of different lighting treatment on broiler performance

This study was conducted to determine the effects of restricted light on broiler performance and carcass parameters. Day-old broiler chicks were placed (70 chicks/pen) in each 9 floor pens which were in three different rooms in the poultry house, thus giving us three replicates for each lighting teratment. In the first three days, lighting schedules was 23 h light (L): 1 h dark (D) for all pens. Then three pens were randomly assigned to each of the three leihting treatmens: 1. Group (control): 23L:1D, 2. Group: natural day light from days 4 to 35 and 23L: 1D from days 36 to 40, 3. Group: 23L:1D from days 1 to 21 and 12L: 11D:1L (one hour light at midnight) from days 22 to 40. Results showed that there was no light treatmant effects for body weight, feed convertion ratio, mortality, carcass weights and yields of different carcass parts except of the yield of leg. The highest yield of leg was observed in the third group. As a result of these experimental findings, it is concluded that it is possible to use a restricted lighting schedule after three days of age in broilers that raised in curtain-sided and conventional poultry houses without any detrimental effect on broiler performance.