Original: Deepseek (The answer was generated by AI and is for reference only. Please refer to actual breeding conditions for accuracy.)

Unlike blue and green light, red light (with a wavelength range of approximately 620-750 nm) has its own unique effects on chickens. Its core function can be summarized as "reproductive stimulation and group dominance".

The following are the main effects of red light on chicken farming, which can be divided into several key aspects.

1.Promotion Of Sexual Maturity And Egg-laying Performance

This is the most fundamental and prominent function of the red light.

Stimulating Gonadal Development: Long-wavelength red light (as well as orange light) can most effectively penetrate the chicken's skull and act on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis, strongly stimulating the secretion of gonadotropin. This is like sending a "start" signal to the chicken's reproductive system.

Promoting Early Sexual Maturity: During the late stage of layer growing or before they start to lay eggs, introducing or increasing red light exposure can effectively promote the development of the ovaries and fallopian tubes of the hens, enabling them to start to lay eggs earlier.

Improving Egg Production Rate and Egg Weight: During the laying period, using red light illumination can maintain and enhance the egg production rate, and may also increase the egg weight. This is because red light continuously provides strong stimulation to the reproductive system.

Extending The Peak Egg-laying Period: Through a reasonable lighting program, red light helps maintain a longer peak egg-laying period.

Application: Mainly used for layers and breeders during the laying period. In the later stage of rearing, when the flock reaches the weight standard, by changing the lighting from the delayed-maturing blue light to the promoting-maturing red light, the laying start time can be precisely controlled.

2.The Impact On Behavior And Social Interactions

Increase Activity: Contrary to the calming effect of green light, red light tends to increase the activity level of chickens. Chickens will move around, forage and drink water more frequently under red light.

Impact On Group Hierarchy (Fighting sequence): One interesting characteristic of red light is that it may reduce the contrast of the world inside the chicken's eyes and impair their ability to identify details. This could inhibit the aggressive behavior of the chickens, as they would have a harder time accurately pecking at each other. As a result, fighting and pecking behaviors in the red light environment usually decrease.

Note: This seems to contradict "increasing activity", but in fact, they can coexist: the overall activity of the chicken group is higher, but the aggressive behavior among individuals decreases.

3.The Impact On Growth And Development

Impact On Weight Gain Of Broilers: Regarding the research on the effect of red light on the weight gain of broilers, the conclusions vary. Some studies suggest that red light can promote weight gain, but the mechanism may be related to stimulating feeding rather than directly promoting growth metabolism like green light. Overall, in terms of promoting the growth of broilers, the effects of green light and blue light are generally considered to be more stable and significant than those of red light.