Lighting conditions in commercial poultry housing significantly affect welfare. Evidence-based lighting programs improve behaviour, health, and production outcomes.
Lighting management in commercial poultry housing is a powerful but often overlooked welfare lever. Historically, continuous or near-continuous low-level lighting was used to maximise feed consumption and growth rate. Research has demonstrated significant welfare costs: continuous lighting disrupts circadian rhythms, reduces sleep quality, and contributes to leg disorders in fast-growing broilers. Providing adequate darkness periods and sufficient light intensity for natural behaviour — foraging, pecking, dustbathing — improves multiple welfare outcomes. Access to natural light, where feasible, provides additional benefits including ultraviolet exposure important for vitamin D synthesis and immune function. Welfare certification schemes increasingly specify lighting requirements.