Darkening
The risk of pecking is always higher in open-sided buildings when natural light intensity is high, so we
advice that production houses are fully darkened.
Naturally lit houses should be built with an east-west orientation to avoid the entry of sunlight at dawn
and evening. In open-sided houses, to reduce light intensity and minimize pecking behaviour, shading
can be achieved by painting the windows, by avoiding reflective ceilings, by using netting wind-
barriers to prevent penetration of sunlight at sunrise and sunset, and by using sliding shutters which
allow control of the brightness of the building according to the season.
Partitioning
It is advisable to partition the house so as to get pens of some thousands hens. Partitioning should be
opaque up to 60 cm to avoid smothering along the panels.
Lighting
Lighting should, preferably, be provided by incandescent bulbs, which allow a good spread of light
intensity. The bulbs should be covered with lampshades. If lighting is provided by fluorescent tubes,
there should be evenly distributed and of a warm colour (yellow or orange light spectrum). In all
cases, it is recommended to install dimmers that allow adjusting the light intensity.
If the building is dark and the pullets have been reared in dark houses, a light intensity of about 5 lux
is adequate. The nests should not be too bright. For buildings with part floor / part slats, the litter
area should be correctly lit to prevent floor eggs. To prevent the nests being too bright, it is possible to
improve the distribution of light by using blue or red coloured sticky tape on the lateral part of the
fluorescent tubes.
Floor eggs before lights on can be reduced by using night lights switched on one hour before lights
on. This requires light fittings able to provide 0.5 lux light intensity to the birds.