Effect of Lighting Methods on the Production, Behavior and Meat Quality Parameters of Broiler Chickens.

Simple Summary: Light is a very important parameter in poultry farming. It can influence production, meat quality and welfare. The increasingly popular energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lighting has replaced other light sources in many farms. We aimed to investigate the effects of incandescent light (IL) and LED lighting on production, meat quality parameters and behavior. In the first five weeks, there was a significant difference in body weights between the groups. The feed conversion ratio was more favorable in all weeks in the LED group. Among the meat quality parameters, only the shear force values differed significantly between the groups. Broilers raised under LED lighting were more active, spent more time socializing and rested less. The results indicated that LED lighting positively impacts animal welfare and production efficiency. Many farms have been replacing traditional lighting sources with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs because of technological modernization. We aimed to investigate the effects of incandescent lighting (IL) and LED lighting on Cobb 500 broiler chickens for six weeks. Production parameters (body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio), calculated slaughter values (yield%, relative breast%, thigh%) and breast meat quality parameters (pH at 45 min and 24 h postmortem, color, drip loss, kitchen equipment losses, shear force, meat composition) were recorded. Non-stop recordings were used to analyze the behavior of the birds during several periods of rearing. The LED group was significantly better in the body weight parameter between week 1 and 5 and the feed conversion ratio between week 2 and 3. The most significant difference in behavior was observed in the middle of the rearing period. The chickens in the LED group spent more time eating, drinking and interacting, and rested less. There was no difference in the meat quality parameters; only shear force was significantly lower in the LED group (1781.9 g/s vs. 2098.8 g/s). According to our results, LED lighting can bring about positive changes in animal production efficiency, behavior and other important characteristics for meat consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]