XXIV

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

Photoperiod responses in broilers the impact

of daylength on productivity and welfare

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Introduction

The majority of the data presented in this

work have been conducted at the University
of Saskatchewan in Canada. In this work,
approximately 17,000 commercial broilers (Ross x
Ross 308 or Ross x Ross 708) were exposed to one
of four daily photoperiod lengths 14 h of light and
10 h of darkness (14L:10D), 17L:7D, 20L:4D and
23L:1D over four experiments. Lighting programs
were initiated at 7 d of age, and maintained at a
steady level until market age. Birds were marketed
at varying ages to help understand the impact that
daylength has on various sectors of the broiler
industry, and ranged from 32 d of age to 49 d. Light
intensity within the brooding period (0-7 d) was 20
lux (2 foot candles), and reduced to 10 lux (1 foot
candle) for the remaining period.

In the University of Saskatchewan work, nearcontinuous light impacted growth rate negatively
when birds were weighed at 32 (Figure 1), 39
(Figure 2) and 49 d (Figure 3) of age (British Poultry
Science, in press). At 32 d (quadratic relationship
between daylength and weight), body weight peaked
when birds were exposed to 20L. A shift occurred
in this pattern as birds aged. At 39 d, the heaviest
body weights were still found 20L, but 17L birds
outweighed 20L birds (quadratic relationship). This
trend continued, and at 49 d, birds raised under 17
and 20L were heaviest, and even birds exposed to 14L
were heavier than those under 23L. Thus, it appears
that darkness exposure slows growth early in life,
but broilers have the ability to adapt with resulting
increased growth later in life. When birds were grown
to heavier weights, adding even more darkness to the
photoperiod program resulted in similar body weights
as achieved under 4 h of darkness.

1,75

Karen Schwean-Lardner

he use of lighting programs can be a powerful

tool in broiler management, albeit one that
is not used consistently. Lack of darkness
(constant or near-constant light) in a program
has been and is still used in many areas of the world
based on misconceptions of maximizing productivity
visually available feeders and waterers should
theoretically provide maximum growth rates.

may indicate reasons for these findings. Brickett et

al.s work compared 12 h of light to 20, so the long
dark period was extensively long, and no constant or
near constant program was used in the comparison.
Rozenboim et al.s work did report heavier body
weights under 23 h of light as compared to 8 h
of darkness at 42 d of age, but by 49 d of age,
body weights were the same. These results point
to an important factor that growth rate is likely
reduced by long dark periods early in life, but
with the allowance of time for compensatory gain
to occur, market weights can be at least as good
under longer dark periods as with the use of very
long daylengths.

32d

Daylength and productivity

Available scientific literature has not been
consistent in the discussion of how changing
daylengths have impacted productivity levels. For
example, in some cases, long daylengths have
resulted in heavier birds at market (Morris, 1967;
Rozenboim et al., 1999; Brickett et al., 2007a).
However, closer examination of the experiments

kg

1,70
1,65
1,60
1,55
14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 1 - Impact of daylength on body weifght.

Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

XXIV
2,35

39d

kg

2,25
2,20
2,15
14L

17L

20L

23L

Karen Schwean-Lardner

kg

Figure 2 - Impact of daylength on body weifght.

The growth and feed efficiency data are important

for many reasons. Certainly economics are impacted
by these factors, so appropriate lighting programs
can affect income. The poor growth rate noted in
birds raised on 23L, which traditionally have been
expected to have the heaviest weights at market
because of access to feed and water, may indicate
reduced bird welfare.

49d

Daylength and health

14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 3 - Impact of daylength on body weifght.

Inclusion of darkness in a photoperiod program
has previously been shown to improve feed
efficiency (Classen and Riddell, 1989; Lewis et al.,
1996; Brickett et al., 2007b), and this was confirmed
in this work. Regardless of the age examined, more
darkness improved feed conversion ratio, and
this was true with or without mortality correction
(Figures 4 and 5). The response was quadratic in
nature for the periods of 7-32 d and 7-39 d, and
linear for the 7-49 d period. Generally, larger birds
demonstrate poorer feed conversion, but data from

Gain to Feed Ratio

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August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

this experiment have shown that is not the only

factor involved. For example, birds under 17L and
20L were similar in body weight at 49 d, but birds
exposed to the longer dark period demonstrated
improved FCR. Furthermore, the birds raised on a
14L program were heavier than those raised on a
23L program, yet feed efficiency was significantly
improved when the long scotoperiod program was
used.

2,30

3,28
3,26
3,24
3,22
3,20
3,18
3,16
3,14
3,12
3,10

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

7-32d

7-39d

7-49d

0,65

The inclusion of increased darkness in lighting

programs has been a traditional choice to reduce
mortality and improve mobility in broilers (Lewis
and Perry, 1986; Classen and Riddell, 1989, 1990;
Manser, 1996; Sanotra et al., 2002; Brickett et al.,
2007b). It was effective in this work as well. In a
similar fashion as was noted for feed efficiency,
more darkness reduced mortality, regardless of body
weight, in a linear fashion (Figure 6) (SchweanLardner, 2011). This indicates that market body
weight and fast growth at the end of the production
cycle has little impact on mortality levels. During the
7-32 d and 7-39 d periods, the highest mortality was
noted under 23L, although these birds were not the
heaviest. At the older ages, the highest mortality
was found in flocks raised under 20L (7.11%) with
a slight reduction under 23L (6.55%). Those birds
exposed to longer periods of darkness showed a
marked reduction in mortality (3.63 and 3.87% for

0,70

7-32d

7-39d

7-49d

0,65
0,60

0,60
0,55

0,55

0,50

0,50
14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 4 - Impact of daylength on gain to feed ratio.

Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 5 - Impact of daylength on gain to feed ratio

corrected for mortality.

XXIV
7-32d

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

7-39d

August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

2,0

7-49d

% mortality

7
6
%

5
4
3
2
1

1,5

Metabolic
Skeletal

1,0
0,5
0,0

0
14L

17L

20L

14L

23L

Figure 6 - Impact of daylength on overall mortality.

17L

20L

23L

Figure 7 - Impact of daylength on metabolic and

skeletal disorders 7-32d.

Table 1 - Impact of daylength on the percentage

of broilers falling into combined gait score
categories of 3, 4 and 5.
14L

17L

20L

23L

SEM

28 d

2.34

2.34

4.69

0.730

35 d

0.63

2.50

4.33

0.413

45 d

4.66

9.26

8.72

16.26

1.117

Other abnormalities were also seen in birds raised

under near-constant photoperiods. Eye weight
was significantly heavier in birds raised under 23L
as compared to birds under any other daylength,
resulting in quadratic relationships with daylength
(Table 2). While these results do not confirm a

2,5

Metabolic

2,0

Skeletal

1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0

Figure 8 - Impact of daylength on metabolic and

skeletal disorders 7-39d.

3,0

Metabolic

2,5

Skeletal

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Long daylength reduced health in other aspects

as well. Mobility of birds, as measured by gait scoring
(Garner et al., 2002) decreased with increasing
daylength regardless of age. When examining the
percentage of birds falling in the upper gait score
categories of 3, 4 and 5, the impact of daylength was
linear, with the highest percentage of birds falling in
these categories under near-constant photoperiods
(Table 1). These categories are generally considered
to include birds in pain (Danbury et al., 2000)
and therefore more pain is associated with long
daylength. Birds exposed to 20L were intermediate
in the level in the 3,4,5 category, and the lowest
percentage of birds were found in flocks under 14L.

% mortality

The causes of the increased mortality noted

when birds were raised on long photoperiods were
primarily with metabolic and skeletal disease, and
these disease categories were impacted in a linear
fashion over the 7-32 (Figure 7), 7-39 (Figure 8)
and 7-49 d (Figure 9) periods.

% mortality

14 and 17L respectively) regardless of the similarity

in body weight.

2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 9 - Impact of daylength on metabolic and

skeletal disorders 7-49d.
reduction in welfare, abnormally heavy eyes have
been shown to result in an increased incidence of
glaucoma and cataracts in other birds, and pain as
a result of pressure on the optic nerve in humans.
Therefore, this abnormality in broilers is of concern.
No differences were noted in the eye weight of birds
from any of the other lighting programs, indicating
that even 4 h of darkness is enough to result in
Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

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August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

as was noted in walking (Figure 11, linear

at 27 d and quadratic at 42 d), and running
(Figure 12, quadratic at 42 d, with 23L birds
SEM
no longer running). It might be expected that
time spent at the feeder would be longer for
birds exposed to daylength for 23 h of the
0.048
day, as they have more ready access to the
0.002
feeder. Yet, this was not the case, and these
birds spent the least percentage of time at
the feeder (quadratic relationship between
0.050
behaviour and daylength, Figure 13). Trends
0.002
in comfort and exploratory behaviours
followed similar patterns. Levels of preening
were reduced with increasing daylength (Figure 14,
linear at 27 d, quadratic at 42 d), as were stretching
(Figure 15, linear reduction at both 27 and 42 d)
and litter pecking (Figure 16, quadratic at both
ages). Levels of behavioural expression for birds
raised under 20L were intermediate indicating that
4 h of darkness may not be sufficient to maximize
behavioural expression.

Table 2 - Impact of daylength on absolute eye weight and

eye weight relative to body weight.
14L

17L

20L

23L

31 d
Absolute (g)

4.02 3.87 3.99 4.66

Relative (g/kg body wt)

0.20 0.19 0.19 0.23

46 d
Absolute (g)

4.80 4.85 4.77 5.39

Relative (g/kg body wt)

0.15 0.16 0.16 0.18

normal growth rhythms of eyes in broilers.

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Daylength and meat yield

Daylength has an impact on muscle yield in
broilers, but the degree differed with age (Table
3). In general, carcass yield increased as birds were
marketed at older ages. Carcass yield was not
affected by daylength at 31 d of age, but increased
linearly with daylength at 38 d and quadratically
at 49 d of age. Breast meat deposition increased
with increasing daylength regardless of the age
of the birds. The effect was linear with increasing
daylength at all ages measured. A consistent linear
decrease in dark meat (particularly drum meat) was
noted with increasing daylength.

Daylength and behaviour

Monitoring behaviour is an important tool for
assessing the welfare for poultry. In this study,
broiler behaviour was monitored with the use of
an infrared camera system over a 24 h period for
all lighting programs at 27/28 d (27 d) of age in
the first flock, and 42/43 d (42 d) in the second.
Scan samples were then observed every 10 min for
the 24 h period, with 2 pen replications (53 male
Ross x Ross 308 broilers per pen) for each lighting
program x age.
Daylength had a significant impact on the
levels of behavioural expression in broilers (Applied
Animal Behaviour Science, in press). The use of
infrared cameras allowed the ability to examine
behavioural output over a 24 h period, as well as
activity during the photophase and the scotophase.
The 24 h data is reported in this document. A linear
relationship was noted between daylength and
inactive resting, with birds raised on 23L being the
most lethargic (Figure 10). Correspondingly, birds
given longer daylengths spent less time exercising,

Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

Comparisons of behavioural expression between

birds exposed to 14L or 17L generally indicated
higher behavioural expression for birds on 17L.
However, this difference may be a reflection of the
increased dark period for the 14L birds and as a
consequence less time for behavioural expression
during the photophase. There were no behavioural
advantages for exposing broilers to photoperiods
shorter than 17L.

Daylength and circadian

patterns
Table 3 - Impact of daylength on broiler carcass
characteristics (% of live weight).
14L

17L

20L

23L

SEM

31 d
Carcass

65.90

66.27 66.38

66.25

0.138

Total breast

17.24

17.64 17.99

18.21

0.128

Drum meat

3.16

3.09

3.04

2.99

0.020

Carcass

67.25

68.04 68.63

68.63

0.110

Total breast

14.92

15.51 15.93

16.19

0.107

Drum meat

3.23

3.16

3.10

3.07

0.012

Carcass

70.42

71.14 72.34

71.58

0.189

Total breast

19.99

20.62 21.29

21.14

0.130

Drum meat

3.25

3.18

3.11

0.018

38 d

49 d

3.14

XXIV

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

90

10

60

4
17L

20L

14L

23L

Figure 10 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent in inactive resting (mean 24 h).

17L

20L

5
27d
42d

27d

4
% time

4
3
2

23L

Figure 13 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent at the feeder (mean 24 h)

% time

70

14L

27d
42d

80

% time

% time

27d
42d

42d

3
2

0
14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 11 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent walking (mean 24 h).

14L

17L

20L

Figure 14 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent preening (mean 24 h)

1,2

0,6

27d

27d

% time

% time

0,2

42d

0,9

42d

0,4

23L

Karen Schwean-Lardner

0,6
0,3
0,0

0,0
14L

17L

20L

23L

14L

17L

20L

23L

Figure 12 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent running (mean 24 h).

Figure 15 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent stretching (mean 24 h).

Circadian rhythm development within an

organism is important as it results in the coordination of biological, physiological and
behavioural outcomes (Ohta et al., 2005). Circadian
rhythm development also is important for a group
of animals, as it ensures that behavioural expression,

for example, occurs at an appropriate time during

the day or night.
The impact that varying degrees of daylength
had on the development of flock behavioural
rhythms and melatonin production patterns were
Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

XXIV
% time

27d
42d

4
2
0
14L

17L

20L

23L

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Figure 16 - Impact of daylength percentage of time

spent litter pecking (mean 24 h).

determined in this work. With the use of an infrared

camera system, behaviours were monitored every
10 min for a 24 h period. Within the photophase
section of the day, regression analysis was used
to examine the impact of daylength on the
development of rhythms within the flock. Testing
was conducted at 27/28 d of age and 42/43 d in
separate flocks. Blood sera samples were collected
(N=6 per time) throughout the 24 h period (6 times
for birds exposed to 23L, and 8 times for those
exposed to 14, 17 or 20L), then tested for melatonin
levels via radioimmunoassay (Labor Diagnosktika
Nord GmbG & Co.).
Relationships between time and behavioural
expression during the light period were common
when birds were exposed to 7 or 10 h of darkness
per day, but were non-existent when only 1 h of
darkness was provided (Table 4). Birds exposed to
20L:4D showed only sporadic behavioural rhythms.
For example, at 27 d of age, relationships between
time and behavioural expression were noted for
resting for birds raised on 14L and 17L (quadratic
in both cases; Figures 17a,b). However, no such
Table 4 - Presence of absence of flock synchronized
photophase behavioural rhythms in broilers at 27 d
of age. + indicates synchronization was present.
- indicates no synchronization was present.

14L

17L

20L

23L

Inactive resting

Walking

Standing

Feeding

Drinking

Preening

Dustbathing

Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

rhythms existed for birds raised with 20L or 23L

programs, as behavioural expression occurred
more sporadically (Figure 17c, d). Therefore, birds
attempting particular behaviours such as sleeping,
were likely interrupted by others performing other
behaviours.
Melatonin production was also impacted by
daylength. A quadratic relationship was found
between time of day and melatonin production for
flocks raised under 14L (Figure 18a), 17L (Figure
18b) and 20L (Figure 18c), but no such relationship
existed for the flocks raised with 23L (Figure 18d).
The flocks raised under 23L also had the lowest
average narrowest range of melatonin production.

Conclusions
The results of this research demonstrate
that daylength has important effects on broiler
productivity, which in turn affect the economics
of production. With the exception of breast meat
yield, near-constant lighting programs have no
advantages in comparison to other daylengths tested
for broiler production. Furthermore, the loss of body
weight and increase in mortality may outweigh the
economic advantages of increased breast muscle.
Lighting programs using 20 h light and 4 h darkness
(20L) result in intermediate performance heavier
body weights at the younger ages of 31/32 d, but
with little or no differences as compared to longer
dark periods at older ages. Once again, mortality is
higher than when longer dark periods, such as the
17L program used here, are employed. These data
indicate that in terms of productivity, choosing an
exact lighting program for all situations may not be
ideal. Age of marketing, cost of feed ingredients,
historical farm mortality rates and farm altitude are
some of the examples that might be considered
when choosing an appropriate daylength to include
in a lighting program.
The data also indicate that daylength has a
vital importance in dictating the well-being of
broilers. The poor growth rate of birds raised on
23L indicates a welfare problem, and the higher
mortality is a major welfare issue. Behavioural
expression suffers to a point of extreme lethargy
under very long daylengths, and the near loss of
important behaviours such as nutritive, comfort
and exploratory behaviours indicate poor well-being
as well. Loss of flock synchrony in behaviour and
melatonin production signal abnormal behavioural
and physiological functioning, furthering this
argument. Reducing daylength to 20L improves

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100

80
60
40
20
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

Time clock (24 h)

Figure 17a - Percent of flock inactive resting of birds on 14L:10D at d 27. The black checked line represents the
scotophase period, and the green triangle line the photophase. Behaviour responded quadratically with time
during the photophase (P=0.0001).

100
80
60
40
20
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400

Time clock (24 h)

100
80
60
40
20
0
0

200

400

600

800

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Figure 17b - Percent of flock inactive resting of birds on 17L:7D at 27 d. The black line represents the
scotophase period, and the green line the photophase. Behaviour responded quadratically over time during the
photophase (P=0.0001).

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400

Time clock (24 h)

Figure 17c - Percent of flock inactive resting of birds on 20L:4D at 27 d. The black line represents the
scotophase period, and the green line the photophase. Daytime relationship between behaviour and time was
not statistically significant.

100
80
60
40
20
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400

Time clock (24 h)

Figure 17d - Percent of flock inactive resting of birds on 23L:1D at 27 d. The black line represents the
scotophase period, and the green line the photophase. Daytime relationship between behaviour and time was
not statistically significant.
Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

XXIV

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Melatonin (pg/ml)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

2100

2400

Time clock (24 h)

Melatonin (pg/ml)

Figure 18a - Melatonin rhythm of birds raised on 14L:10D at d21. The black line represents the scotophase
period, and the green line the photophase. Serum melatonin levels respond quadratically over the 24 h period
(P=0.0001).
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

2100

2400

160
140

Melatonin (pg/ml)

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Time clock (24 h)

Figure 18b - Melatonin rhythm of birds raised on 17L:7D at d 21. Serum melatonin levels respond quadratically
over the 24 h period (P=0.0001).

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

2100

2400

Time clock (24 h)

Melatonin (pg/ml)

Figure 18c - Melatonin rhythm of birds raised on 20L:4D at d 21. Serum melatonin levels respond quadratically
the 24 h period (P=0.0154).
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

2100

2400

Time clock (24 h)

Figure 18d - Melatonin rhythm of birds raised on 23L:1D at d 21. The 24 h period relationship between
behaviour and time was not statistically significant (P=0.9447).

Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

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August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil

the welfare of the birds somewhat, but the data

indicate that the improvement is only intermediary.
Behavioural expression tends to be produced at a
maximum level with inclusion of more than the 4 h
of darkness, and while synchrony of flock melatonin
production still exists with 4 h of darkness, the
relationship is weaker than when longer dark
periods are included.

This leaves the question of what is an appropriate

daylength to use for broiler production. As stated
above, the use of 23L:1D should not be considered
because of the major negative impact on broiler
welfare. The addition of 4 h of darkness can improve
the well-being to some extent, and while certainly
results in an improvement over near-constant
light, is only intermediate in its improvement to
animal welfare. However, is it necessary to use
long scotoperiods such as that found in 14L:10D?
The differences noted between 14L and 17L birds
appear to be minor a slight improvement in health
with the use of 10 h of darkness, but increased
behavioural expression with 7 h of dark. Hence,
the indications between the two are not clear. If
a compromise between productivity and welfare
indicators are to be employed in the broiler industry,
then likely approximately 7 h of darkness may be an
appropriate starting point.

Acknowledgements
While it has been shown that birds can sleep
during the light period, the quality of that sleep is
likely poorer (Rattenborg et al., 2005). Beyond that,
flocks that do not follow a synchronized pattern of
behavioural expression very likely may waken birds
that are attempting to sleep during the photophase.
This is termed sleep fragmentation, and in other
species, has been shown to be as detrimental as
total sleep deprivation (Chen and Kushida, 2005).
In this research, flocks under 23L did not form
synchronized behavioural patterns during the
photophase for any behaviour monitored, which
makes the development of sleep fragmentation
possible. Similarly, 20L flocks only exhibited
synchronized patterns in some behaviours. Those on
14L and 17L were synchronized in their behavioural
expression. Strengthening the argument of sleep
deprivation was the impact of daylength on
melatonin production. Melatonin plays an important
part in the onset of sleep, driven partly by the height
of the night-time peak, the duration of the peak,
and the range between the peak and valley. Under
23L, no synchronized rhythms were noted, showing
that levels did not differ between photo- and
scotophases periods. Functions of sleep are many,
including tissue regeneration, energy restoration,
immune function, memory development, mental

The financial support of Aviagen Inc. and the

in-kind support of Lilydale Inc. are acknowledged.
as are the technical expertise of the staff of the
University of Saskatchewan Poultry Centre.

Karen Schwean-Lardner

Reasons for poor performance seen in birds on

23L could include a number of factors. Poor health
and poor mobility due to leg weakness issues may
result in birds feeding less. While feed intake for 23L
birds was less than the bigger 20L birds, it was never
less than birds raised on 14L or 17L, and body weight
did not always differ. As a result, feed efficiency
itself was poor for broilers under 23L, suggesting
that digestibility itself may be suffering. Behavioural
activity of birds on 23L has previously been thought
to be increased because of the long day period, but
again, data in this work have clearly shown that
activity is actually higher in birds that are exposed
to increasing levels of darkness, hence disproving
the belief that activity levels are responsible for the
difference in feed efficiency. Another possibility is
that birds on 23L were sleep deprived, which may
have many negative impacts on birds, including
health and digestive function.

alertness among others (Rechtschaffen et al., 1983;

Powell et al., 1999; Powell et al., 2001; Everson
et al., 2008). If broilers under 23L, and to a lesser
extent 20L, are deprived of sleep, then it is possible
to see poor growth, a reduction in health, poorer
behavioural expression all of which were noted in
this work.

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Area: Chicken Breeder and Broiler Production August 06

Worlds Poultry Congress 5 - 9

August - 2012 Salvador - Bahia - Brazil