CMancaster Farming, Saturday, July 16, 1994
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Penn State Ipsfev
Poultry \ \
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DO BROILERS
NEED 23 HOURS
OF LIGHT
PER DAY FOR
OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE?
Dr. Magdi Mashaly
Dr. Abdulrahman Atta*
Magda Galal*
Rowland Bynum
Dept. Of
Poultry Science
It is a well-known fact that light
is important in affecting different
biological processes in the body.
In many instances, these effects
are hormonal and are the result of
increased activity of the pituitary
gland, located at the base of the
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brain. The length of the daily light
period is important in stimulating
the reproductive cycles of chick
ens; however, in growing broilers,
the amount of light needed is only
that amount necessary to enable
the bird to move around and to see
to eat and drink. In meat-type
birds, there is always an attempt to
reduce activity to improve effi
ciency. In the poultry industry, the
most commonly used light regime
for broilers is 23 hours of light and
1 hour of darkness per day.
In our laboratory, we have con
ducted several studies using diffe
rent photoperiodic regimes to find
a lighting schedule that results in
optimum performance. The
regimes used were 23 hour lighi/1
hour dark (23 L/l D); 12 hour
light/12 hour dark (12 L/12 D); 2
hour light/2 hour dark (2 L/2 D);
and 1 hour light/3 hour dark (IL/3
D).
One-day old broiler chicks were
used. Birds were weighed weekly
and feed consumption was calcu
lated. Percentage mortality was
also recorded. (Immune parame
ters were measured every two
8!
i
weeks to assess differences in
immune status and will be pre
sented in a future article.)
At all ages measured, body
weights of birds receiving 12 L/12
D were less than those of the other
three groups. Body weights in the
23 L/l D group were slightly high
er than in either 2 L/2 Dor IL/3 D
groups. This difference was espe
cially apparent at six and seven
weeks of age. The birds in the 1 L/3
D group consumed less feed and
had slightly better feed efficiency
than the other three groups. Per
centage of mortality was less in the
1 L/3 D group than in the 23 L/l D
group (2 percent vs. 3 percent).
It could be concluded from our
results as well as results from other
researchers that raising broiler
chicks on intermittent lighting
programs (1 L/3 D) could be more
advantageous when compared to
continuous or 23 L/l D systems for
the following four reasons:
1. With feed constituting the
major cost of production, saving
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feed through reduction in con
sumption and consequently an
improvement in conversion would
be important.
2. An improvement in livability.
3. Reduction in the incidence of
leg abnormalities.
Poultry Litter Becomes
Friendly
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Alum, an item found in household
medicine cabinets, could be put to
a new use as a prescription for
turning the litter in poultry houses
into fertilizer that’s kind to the en
vironment.
As an astringent, alum is the
main ingredient of styptic pencils
used to stop bleeding, such as
from shaving nicks. U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture scientist Phil
ip A. Moore Jr. has put alum to
work in commercial poultry hous
es to cut the loss of nitrogen in
chicken litter.
Fresh poultry litter is loaded
with nitrogen, phosphorus and
other essential plant nutrients,
making it a seemingly ideal “na
tural” fertilizer, Moore said.
But nitrogen in the litter tends
to vaporize into ammonia while
still in the poultry house. When
that happens, the litter’s ratio of
nitrogen to phosphorus is thrown
off balance, leaving a heavy load
of phosphorus.
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4. Reduction in the cost of
electricity, since the light will be
on only six hours versus a possible
23 or 24 hours per day. ■
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Fertilizer
Litter is applied to land as ferti
lizer based on its nitrogen content,
said Moore. Spreading enough lit
ter to provide sufficient nitrogen
can result in serious phosphorus
overloads that can wash off farm
fields bad news for nearby wa
terways. Phosphorus accelerates
the growth of algae in streams and
rivers.
Adding alum to the litter while
it’s still on the poultry house floor
changes that. Moore said research
showed that alum ties up the phos
phorus into a form that won’t dis
solve in water and doesn’t move in
soil.
Moore and co-researchers
found in other tests at an ARS
poultry laboratory in Fayetteville,
Ark., that adding alum to poultry
litter at the rate of 200 grams per
kilogram of litter reduced nitrogen
evaporation by 99 percent
“Chicken litter is one of the best
fertilizers in the world, as long as
it’s used wisely,” Moore said.
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