The Use of All-Night Lights for Growing Turkeys

The Effect of Light Duration on Turkey Poult Performance and Adrenal Function

“…Results from the present study support the observations of Milby and Thompson (1941) that no significant differences occurred in growth or feed consumption of torn poults grown from 0 to 8 weeks of age in continuous artificial light and natural daylight, even though day lengths increased in their study and decreased in our study. In addition, the other light treatments utilized in this study had no consistent significant effect on body weight or feed intake to 8 weeks of age.…”

“…Turkey producers in the southeastern United States often allow turkey flocks exposure to natural day light within confined areas during the grow-out phases. Because poultry tend to consume more feed and water and are more active during light than dark (Milby and Thompson, 1941;Beane et al, 1965;Foshee et al, 1970;Buckland et al, 1974;Buckland, 1975;Squibb and Collier, 1979), it would seem that the longer the light period, the greater the opportunity to eat. Because rate of growth is dependent on feed intake, long day lengths with constant light intensities were expected to result in greater growth rates than shorter day lengths or natural day lengths with variable light intensities (Deaton et al, 1981).…”

“…In addition, few studies exist that report the effect of light on poult performance. Growth of poults exposed to regimens of continuous light or natural light from hatching to 8 weeks of age was not different (Milby and Thompson, 1941). Siopes et al (1983) have shown that a low light intensity of 1.1 lx caused adrenal enlargement and adversely affected poult performance and livability from hatching to 2 weeks of age.…”

The Effect of Intermittent Lighting Programmes on the Production of Market Chickens and Turkeys

“…Milby and Thompson (1941) reported, on the basis of four trials conducted over four years, that providing night light to supplement natural daylight so the birds were grown under continuous light rather than on natural light and dark periods did not result in any improvements in body weight. The birds used were relatively slow growing by today's standards, with the average weight of the males ranging from 3.18 to 5-18 kg at 20 weeks of age.…”

Photoperiod and seasonal influences on the growth of turkey hens

“…Milby and Thompson (1941) reported that allnight lights did not influence the growth of spring-hatched male or female turkeys to 27 weeks of age. In two separate experiments, McCartney (1956) compared the effects of naturally increasing (from 12 to 15 h per day) and naturally decreasing (from 12 to 9 h per day) light with those of a constant photoperiod of 13 h per day (13L:11D) on the growth of hens to 24 and 28 weeks of age.…”