Flash Lighting for Egg Production

Abstract

THE use of artificial lighting to extend day-length to 13–14 hr. is well established in commercial poultry-keeping as a means of stimulating the production of eggs in winter. Weber¹ claimed that similar increases in yield could be obtained by a ‘shock-lighting’ technique in which two 20.sec. flashes of high-intensity light, administered at 4.00 and 4.45 a.m., were the sole additions to natural winter daylight. Over the past seven years a series of experiments investigating the nature of the response to flash lighting has been carried out at Reading with the aid of funds provided by the Agricultural Research Council, and with the co-operation of the Electrical Research Association. These have confirmed that, although Weber's regime does not give the best results, pullets can be stimulated to high production of eggs by a variety of flash-lighting treatments.