Lighting conditions in poultry houses significantly affect broiler and layer hen welfare. Evidence-based lighting management can reduce health problems, fear, and behavioral disorders.
Poultry lighting management has historically been driven by production goals — maximizing feed conversion and growth — with welfare as a secondary concern. Evidence increasingly shows that compromised lighting regimes carry real welfare costs. Continuous or near-continuous lighting prevents normal circadian rhythms, disrupts sleep, and may contribute to the leg health problems that are endemic in fast-growing broiler strains. Appropriate lighting programs — providing sufficient darkness periods, appropriate intensity, and natural spectrum lighting — improve behavioral expression, reduce fear, support immune function, and contribute to better leg health. The welfare case for improved lighting standards is strong and the production cost is modest, making this an achievable reform with meaningful welfare impact.