LED Lights Shows Positive Results for Poultry Production

Here’s one thing about lighting you may not know: it has a huge impact on how chickens behave. In fact, lighting is so important to the poultry industry that it’s been observed that too much light during brooding and grow-out can lead to diminished performance, which in turn leads to reduced profits.

While new poultry barns featuring solid sidewalls and tunnel ventilation systems have been designed to be more energy efficient to run, using artificial lighting in them can be a bit of a problem—with these barns, artificial lighting is the only way to go. The traditional use of 60-watt incandescent light in a typical poultry barn can account for as much as 30 to 40 percent of the total electrical costs of that barn, and that could still rise on its size and flock age.



You can clearly see that there’s a problem here—improvements have to made in lighting to help increase bird production and reduce costs.

CFLs

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have become popular replacements to incandescent lights, capable of saving as much as 60 percent in electricity costs compared to incandescent lights, having a much longer lifespan as well.

Using CFLs however, comes at a cost. Due to the sensitivity of CFLs to power fluctuations, they have been observed by barn owners to have high failure rates. Their spirally shapes also make them a magnet for collecting dust, which reduces their total lumen output. CFLs also contain mercury, an environmental hazard and a danger to poultry.

LEDs

People in the poultry production industry have used LEDs during the past 3 years, with positive results. It’s a new light source currently used in breeder and poultry facilities with success. Adequate brood lighting with LEDs has yield results just as good as, if not even better, than traditional lighting. LEDs are also more energy efficient than any other lighting device on the market—they are at least 85 percent more efficient that incandescent light bulbs. The solid-state components of LEDs also make them shockproof and resistant to electricity fluctuations.

With LED lighting technologies growing at a rapid pace, the possibilities for poultry production applications are immense. Poultry producers may want to do their homework on LEDs to enjoy their benefits.