Table 2 – The brightness reduction of LED lights after 10,000 hours obtained from three different manufacturers.


Lamp Colour Manufacturer 1 Manufacturer 2 Manufacturer 3


Red 2.5% 26% 28% Green 2.5% 26% 28% Blue 2.5% 26% 28%


a true blackout of <0.1 lux. During the eight hour lights-on period, a light intensity of 1.5 to 2 lux measured under the lamps should be achieved. Good light distribution in rearing is very important to get all females and males on the same lux pattern. Having pens with different light intensities in the house will affect the sexual uniformity of females and males at 22-23 weeks old. Avian eyes adapt morely quickly than humans to light and dark. When feed distribution is done in the dark, timing and calculating the amount of time it takes to get the feed around the chain tracks are both critical. Do not keep the lights off too long when the feed has circulated because some of the hens that are already positioned in front of the feeder tracks will tend to eat more. These birds have learned where the track is and can eat in the dark, giving them more time than their counterparts to consume feed. In addition, a bird’s per- ception of light and colour is much more intense than for hu- mans. For this reason, it is important that staff working inside the houses wear uniforms of the same colour.


Technical aspects of LED light Replace your lux meter with a LED light (lux) meter or test your current lux meter with a LED meter to see if there are dif- ferences in the readouts. Table 1 shows that LED lux meters generally indicate a greater light intensity. Lumen mainte- nance is also important and depends a lot on the quality of the lamps purchased. As Table 2 shows, the reduction in brightness is a function of the quality of the manufactured


light. Your Cobb technical representative can provide a spreadsheet to compare the lamps available on the market. The lamp metrics provide the input and the spreadsheet will compare the quality and cost. All LED chip manufacturers should have a report similar to Table 2 for chipsets. The lifespan is generally based on L70 (or 70%) of the original lu- men output. The chips are run for a certain number of hours to determine how the lumen output declines and the data is used to project the expected lifespan. Always buy both the LEDs and the dimming unit from the same supplier. Mixing and improvising will often create issues.


Poultry specific Recently, specialist LED lamps for the poultry industry have been developed and are relatively inexpensive. They work with a PSU (Power Supply Unit) to ensure that the 48V DC LED lamps receive a current that is correct and consistent. In many cases, for less than US$ 4000, a 14m x 140m commu- nity nest production house can be equipped with good quality LED lights producing up to 100 lux at bird level, with a PSU and linear dimming capability. Lighting in breeder production is a critical factor for the reproductive success of the stock, as lighting signals are used by the hen to initiate and sustain reproductive hormones. In terms of cost, light- ing can also take up a considerable percentage of the budget. To improve reproductive success and consistency, and reduce costs, it might be worthwhile to consider using LED lights.


▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 7, 2020 21


LED lighting of- fers a longer lifespan


(>50,000 hrs), dimming ability and adjustable colour output compared to other lighting technology.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36