How lighting management in poultry houses affects chicken behavior, health, and welfare.
Lighting in poultry houses is a deceptively important welfare variable. The assumption that any light sufficient for human observation is adequate for chickens ignores the fundamentally different visual world of the domestic fowl. Chickens deprived of appropriate light wavelengths, dark periods, and light intensity gradients throughout the house show impaired circadian rhythms, reduced activity, and poorer welfare outcomes. Progressive producers now use photoperiod management that includes genuine dark periods, UV-enriched lighting that supports chicken visual perception, and intensity gradients that allow birds to move toward preferred zones. These changes require investment but yield measurable welfare improvements at modest cost.