Recycling turkey hens with low light intensity.
Yearling turkey breeder hens were recycled into a second egg production cycle by exposure to 16 hr of light per day (16L:8D) of .5, 2.2, 4.3, or 7.6 lx intensity. Controls were exposed to 6L:18D of 55 lx intensity. At the end of the 8-week recycling treatments, all hens were photostimulated with 16L:8D of 55 lx intensity and the time to first egg and rate of egg production were recorded. Low light intensity terminated photorefractoriness and resulted in egg production comparable to the controls in the .5 lx treatment only. Light intensities of 2.2, 4.3, and 7.6 lx resulted in significantly reduced egg production. Turkey hens can be successfully recycled with a low light intensity of .5 lx but not 2.2 lx or greater.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D010058:Oviposition; D014422:Turkeys / Q000502:physiology*