For years I used standard halogen "flood lamps" to light chicks and on those occasions that I light layers. Recently after discussing lighting on another I started doing some more research on proper artificial lighting and wanted to share some of the links I've found along the way. I've not fully covered all of the information I will be sharing so I figured I would get the masses involved and we can all learn a little bit about proper lighting. Some of these sites will cover nearly the same information but I feel that each describes certain points in more understandable terms.
Before reading these links it may help to understand that domestic poultry are tetrachromatic meaning they four independent channels for processing colors. Humans are trichromatic meaning we only have three channels. Essentially your birds see a whole lot more colors than you do. The light we see helps to stimulate important processes in our bodies and the same goes for poultry, except that they are especially sensitive to light and require specific light to maximize their health, growth, and production.
Some of these links are purely informative and others are presenting research to advertise actual products.
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/light_inset.html (if you can see the spectrum charts on this link pls download and post them)
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/NE-127/NewFiles/light.html --> similar to previous link but contains lighting requirement estimation equations
http://www.onceinnovations.com/downloads/spl.pdf
http://onceinnovations.com/pl_product.html
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/article...can-boost-poultry-production-and-profits.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/2820/new-studies-examine-effects-of-lighting-on-chickens
http://poultryscience.uark.edu/FSA8005_(final).pdf
http://www.worldpoultry.net/Breeder...y-farmer-pleased-with-LED-lighting-WP009649W/
http://www.dpichicken.org/forthefar...Lighting for Poultry Production 9-27-2011.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/Poultry-Lighting-The-Theory-Practice/dp/0955210402 --->If anyone has read this let me know what you think of it
http://japr.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/2/352.2.full --->Critical review of the above book.
http://www.selcoproducts.com/led-poultry-lighting
http://www.earthled.com/collections/led-poultry-lighting-poultry-barn-led-bulbs
It is important to remember where chicks are concerned that LED lights produce no heat so a secondary heat source will be required.
This is intended to be an open discussion so everyone feel free to jump in, ask questions, and give opinions.
Before reading these links it may help to understand that domestic poultry are tetrachromatic meaning they four independent channels for processing colors. Humans are trichromatic meaning we only have three channels. Essentially your birds see a whole lot more colors than you do. The light we see helps to stimulate important processes in our bodies and the same goes for poultry, except that they are especially sensitive to light and require specific light to maximize their health, growth, and production.
Some of these links are purely informative and others are presenting research to advertise actual products.
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/light_inset.html (if you can see the spectrum charts on this link pls download and post them)
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/NE-127/NewFiles/light.html --> similar to previous link but contains lighting requirement estimation equations
http://www.onceinnovations.com/downloads/spl.pdf
http://onceinnovations.com/pl_product.html
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/article...can-boost-poultry-production-and-profits.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/2820/new-studies-examine-effects-of-lighting-on-chickens
http://poultryscience.uark.edu/FSA8005_(final).pdf
http://www.worldpoultry.net/Breeder...y-farmer-pleased-with-LED-lighting-WP009649W/
http://www.dpichicken.org/forthefar...Lighting for Poultry Production 9-27-2011.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/Poultry-Lighting-The-Theory-Practice/dp/0955210402 --->If anyone has read this let me know what you think of it
http://japr.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/2/352.2.full --->Critical review of the above book.
http://www.selcoproducts.com/led-poultry-lighting
http://www.earthled.com/collections/led-poultry-lighting-poultry-barn-led-bulbs
It is important to remember where chicks are concerned that LED lights produce no heat so a secondary heat source will be required.
This is intended to be an open discussion so everyone feel free to jump in, ask questions, and give opinions.