Reproductive Performance of Turkeys Subjected to Blackout Versus Brownout Restricted Light Conditions

THE increased demand in recent years for turkey poults throughout the year has stimulated a great deal of interest in light environment studies which might enhance out-of-season reproductive proformance. The reports of Albright and Thompson (1933) and Marsden (1936) showed that turkeys could be stimulated into early egg production through the use of supplementary artificial lights. Asmundson et al. (1946) stated a minimum of 21.5 lux was adequate to bring turkeys into production in the springtime while Garland et al. (1961) stated that as little as 5.4 lux was adequate and that 129.1 lux resulted in higher egg production than 21.5 lux or less. The length of light for optimum response as noted by Amundson and Moses (1950) was between 13 and 15 hours per day. Harper and Parker (1957) observed that Beltsville Small White turkeys, hatched during the winter months, became refractory to light; but that this condition could…