Energy-saving lighting for livestock buildings: The key to efficient animal husbandry - poultry, pigs and cows
Lighting in livestock buildings plays a key role in ensuring appropriate conditions for livestock breeding. Proper lighting affects the health, well-being, and productivity of animals, which directly translates into the quality of agricultural production. What are the specific lighting conditions for poultry, cattle, pig, and horse breeding?
Types of lighting for livestock facilities - lamps for henhouses, barns, pigsties and stables
Virtually every type of livestock facility will require different lighting conditions. We must consider the differences in how individual animal species perceive light to ensure their proper development, longevity, and comfort. This, in turn, will influence the lighting design, including intensity regulation, uniformity, color temperature, and day length.
LED lighting in poultry farming
LED lamps with precisely defined parameters are used in poultry farming. Proper lighting in the hen house is crucial for the birds' health and productivity. Light influences the birds' daily cycle, their activity, and egg production.
Lighting specifications for laying hens:
- No flickering: Birds record images at a high frequency, so poor quality artificial lighting causes stress in birds,
- Light intensity: It is recommended to use lighting with an intensity of 20-60 lux for adult laying hens and broilers and 10-20 lux for chicks.
- Color temperature: The optimal color temperature is 2700-3500 K (warm white light).
- Light day: The light cycle should be 12-16 hours of light per day, which stimulates egg production and improves the health of the birds.
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Broiler lighting specifications:
- No flickering: Birds record images at a high frequency, so poor quality artificial lighting causes stress in birds,
- Light intensity: It is recommended to use lighting with an intensity of 40-80 lux for broilers and 10-20 lux for chickens.
- Color temperature: The optimal color temperature is approximately 4000 K (neutral white light).
- Light day: The light cycle should be 12-16 hours of light per day depending on the age of the culture.
- Illumination uniformity: excludes competition between males for the brightest light areas in the hen house, thus reducing stress and cannibalism.
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Proper lighting affects their behavior, health, and growth. They have particularly high light requirements due to their high visual frequency. Light also regulates hormonal balance, which is crucial for the birds' well-being. Turkeys are particularly sensitive, and our solutions are also ideal for lighting turkey farms.
Poultry have a limited range of color vision, so poultry farmers illuminate their hen houses and turkey houses with blue light for repair work or veterinary procedures.
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Red light is often used as a supplement in broiler breeding. Red light has been proven to have a calming effect on hens and roosters, reducing fighting within the flock and stress in the birds.
Cattle breeding
Good lighting in barns affects cows' health, their ability to see and feed, as well as milk production.
Cow lighting specifications:
- Light intensity: In barns, a light intensity of 40 lux is recommended, with slightly higher brightness at the feeding table and 150 lux for calves.
- Color temperature: The best light is 4000-6500 K (neutral or cool white light).
- Light day: Dairy cows should have access to light for 16-18 hours a day, which increases activity time, improves milk production and influences proper metabolism and weight gain.
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Cows need appropriate lighting conditions to maintain their natural circadian rhythms and increase comfort. A cow's vision adapts much more slowly to changing light conditions, so changes in intensity should also be slower.
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In cow husbandry, red light is often used as a supplement. Red light, while increasing the contrast of cows' vision, is invisible to their eyes. Therefore, red lighting allows work to be carried out inside the barn without disturbing the animals' resting time. It also aids in the recovery of wounds and fatigue by increasing cellular activity.
Pig farming
Pigs need appropriate lighting conditions both in barns and in runs.
Specification:
- Light intensity: The recommended lighting intensity is 80-400 lux in sow areas (highest values for lactating sows and for hormonal stimulation) and 40-100 lux in fattening pig areas.
- Color temperature: Light with a temperature of 4000-6500 K (neutral or cool white light) is best. For piglets, 6500 K is preferred due to higher vitamin D absorption.
- Light day: Sows – 16 hours, boars 12 hours, and weaners 8 hours, which supports their natural biological rhythms and the effective growth of animals.
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Proper lighting affects their behavior, health, and growth. They have particularly high lighting requirements due to their poor contrast perception, despite their excellent color vision. They have very short-range vision, so improper lighting and clothing can cause stress.
Horse breeding
Horses require good lighting both in their stables and paddocks. Light affects their behavior, health, and overall well-being.
Specification:
- Light intensity: In stables, an intensity of 150-200 lux is recommended.
- Color temperature: The best light temperature is 4000-5000 K.
- Light day: Horses should have access to light for 12-16 hours a day to support their activity and well-being.
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It is also worth equipping horse stalls with lamps emitting red light, as horses cannot see it and therefore it does not disturb their rest, but it has been proven to accelerate the regeneration of tissues and bones and reduce stress.
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In horse breeding, red light is often used to aid recovery after exercise by stimulating cell function.
Summary - LED lamps for animal husbandry
Equipping livestock buildings with the right lighting system is crucial for effective livestock farming. Poultry, cattle, pigs, and horses all have specific lighting requirements that must be met to ensure optimal living and production conditions. Appropriate light intensity, color temperature, uniform interior lighting, and a light cycle directly impact animal health, well-being, weight gain, and productivity, which translates into long-term benefits for farmers. For all these animal species, smooth changes in light intensity, mimicking the beginning and end of the day, are crucial. This has a crucial impact on hormonal balance. In fact, non-dimmable lamps should only be used for free-range animals, and the lamps should be gradually turned off at regular intervals, e.g., every 10 minutes.
Lamps for barns, poultry and pigs and controllers from Ledkomplex
At Ledkomplex, we offer lighting systems equipped with energy-saving LED lamps and dimming controls. Our barn, poultry, and pig lighting systems are free from unnecessary LED fixtures and are simple and intuitive to install. They have an IP rating of IP 65 or higher, a 50,000-hour lifespan, and high luminous efficiency. Importantly, our livestock lighting systems are safe to use and consume several times less electricity than fluorescent lamps, not to mention traditional incandescent bulbs.
If you need lamps or lighting controllers for your breeding facility,
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contact us.
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