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Hanlon C, Zuidhof MJ, Rodriguez A, Takeshima K, Bédécarrats GY. Continuous exposure to red light induces photorefractoriness in broiler breeder pullets. Poult Sci 2023; 102:102542. [PMID: 36842297 PMCID: PMC9974448 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.102542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The management of body weight (BW) in broiler breeder pullets is critical to offset the negative correlation between their growth potential and reproductive success. Therefore, a precision feeding system was developed to allocate feed individually based on real-time BW in more frequent, smaller portions. However, this system requires access beyond the 8 h daylength of the rearing period. Since green and red spectra have been shown to stimulate growth and sexual maturation, respectively, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of continuous supplemental illumination of feeders with monochromatic wavelengths on sexual maturation. Furthermore, the best combination of supplemental and daytime lighting for optimizing the pullet-to-hen transition period was investigated. This study contained a 2 × 4 × 2 factorial arrangement, with 2 daytime lights (dtRED and dtGREEN; n = 2 rooms), 4 supplemental lights (sBLUE, sGREEN, sRED, and sCON; n = 12 pens), and 2 supplemental intensities (High and Low). At 3 wk of age (woa), 480 female Ross 708 chicks were randomly distributed across treatments (n = 10/pen). All birds were feed restricted per management guidelines and maintained under 8 h of dtRED or dtGREEN. Birds were photostimulated at 20 woa with 14L:10D. All birds were weighed weekly, with age at first egg (AFE) and production rate calculated weekly per pen. Birds under sRED were heavier than all other treatments from 27 woa to the end of the study (P < 0.001; 30 woa), resulting in hens that were over 400-g heavier. This resulted from a delayed AFE and lower production rate under sRED, with higher intensity further hindering reproductive performance (P < 0.001). Interestingly, despite the inhibitory effect of continuous red lighting (sRED) on reproduction, dtRED resulted in a 3.15% higher rate of lay than dtGREEN. Therefore, this study suggests that while red light remains superior at stimulating reproduction, continuous red supplemental lighting results in photorefractoriness. Thus, we recommend green light in PF systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlene Hanlon
- Department of Poultry Science, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 38649, USA; Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
| | - Martin J. Zuidhof
- Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Adriana Rodriguez
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Kayo Takeshima
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Grégoy Y. Bédécarrats
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
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Rozenboim I, Bartman J, Avital Cohen N, Mobarkey N, Zaguri S, El Halawani ME, Chaiseha Y, Marco A. Targeted differential photostimulation alters reproductive activities of domestic birds. Front Physiol 2022; 13:1040015. [DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1040015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern poultry production systems use environmentally controlled houses providing only artificial illumination. The role of light in reproduction of poultry depends on light quality (photoperiod, intensity/brightness, and spectrum), which enables us to provide custom-made illumination, targeted for the elevation of reproductive activities. Artificial targeted illumination significantly affects poultry reproduction. This phenomenon is based on the mechanism of light absorption in birds, which consists of two main components: the eye (retinal photoreceptors) and brain extraretinal photoreceptors. Several experiments on turkey hens and broiler breeder males and females have shown that photostimulation of brain extraretinal photoreceptors, while maintaining retinal photoreceptors under non-photostimulatory conditions, elevates reproductive activity by increasing egg production of hens and semen quality of roosters. In addition, we found acceleration in all gonadal axis parameters, leading to the acceleration in the production rate. Furthermore, we studied the role of retinal activation in gonadal axis suppuration and identified the role of serotonin in this phenomenon. As for today, several broiler breeder farms use targeted illumination based on our studies with excellent results.
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Bartman J, Zaguri S, Avital-Cohen N, Dishon L, Druyan S, Gumułka M, Rozenboim I. Targeted differential illumination improves reproductive traits of broiler breeder males. Poult Sci 2021; 100:101109. [PMID: 33975041 PMCID: PMC8122181 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.101109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Artificial targeted illumination has a pivotal role in reproductive processes of poultry. The light-absorption mechanism in birds consists of 2 main components: the eye (retinal photoreceptors) and extraretinal photoreceptors located in the brain. Previous studies conducted on hens have shown that photostimulation of brain extraretinal photoreceptors elevates reproductive activity, whereas retinal photostimulation suppresses it. We tested the effect of targeted differential photostimulation (TDP) on reproductive activities of broiler breeder males. Fifty broiler breeder roosters (Ross), 21 wk of age, were divided into 5 environmentally controlled light-treatment rooms (n = 10) equipped with individual cages. Rooms 1 and 2 had 2 parallel lighting systems consisting of red light (630 nm) and green light (514 nm), and rooms 3 and 4 had parallel red and blue (456 nm) lighting systems. Room 5, illuminated with white light, served as the control. Birds of all groups were kept under short day (6L:18D) for 2 wk with both lighting systems in each treatment room turned on. At 23 wk of age, birds were photostimulated by gradually increasing one of the lighting systems to 14 h of light in each room, while the other lighting system was left on short day (6L:18D). Weekly semen samples were collected until 65 wk of age and analyzed for volume, motility, concentration and vitality. Monthly blood samples were drawn for plasma hormone assays. At 65 wk of age, roosters were euthanized and hypothalamus, pituitary gland, retina and testes samples were taken for mRNA expression analysis. TDP using long-day red light and short-day green light significantly increased reproductive performance, manifested by higher semen volume, motility and concentration, and testis weight; furthermore, this group had higher plasma testosterone levels, higher GnRH mRNA expression in the hypothalamus, lower levels of aromatase in the testes, and lower mRNA expression of hypothalamic serotonin transporter, and of pituitary prolactin and its receptors in the testes. This is the first study showing a positive effect of TDP on reproduction of broiler breeder roosters.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Bartman
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
| | - S Zaguri
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - N Avital-Cohen
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - L Dishon
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - S Druyan
- Institute of Animal Science, ARO, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
| | - M Gumułka
- Department of Animal Reproduction, Anatomy and Genomics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
| | - I Rozenboim
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
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