Lighting duration and intensity in commercial broiler facilities profoundly affects chicken activity levels, sleep quality, skeletal health, and overall welfare throughout the grow-out period.
Lighting is a fundamental environmental parameter that shapes nearly every aspect of broiler welfare. Sleep deprivation under near-continuous lighting impairs immune function, pain sensitivity, and behavioral capacity. Chickens denied adequate darkness cannot rest properly, engage in maintenance behaviors, or express the activity rhythms that support musculoskeletal health. The shift toward more welfare-conscious lighting programs is one of the more achievable improvements in broiler production because it costs little and produces measurable welfare benefits. Better-practice lighting regimes combined with slower growth rates represent complementary interventions that address the most significant welfare issues in commercial broiler production.