The Rural Voice, 2000-11, Page 25New barns are using a mixture of
lighting types.
High pressure sodium lamps, also
used for street lights, are available
from 40W up to 400W, cost about
$70 each and last about 24,000 hours.
Light is calculated using foot
candles, illumination falling on
surface areas, and efficiency is
described as lumens per watt. The
number of lights varies, whether you
want shadows or dark corners or not.
For close work, you can use movable
lights such as trouble lights.
Lighting is used to control stress
and encourage reproduction, and
John Hunt of Newry Vet Clinic
remarked barn lights are extremely
important to reproductive times when
they're left on 16 hours a day,
simulating daylight hours for
optimum growth.
Lights can be set lower to reduce
animal stress all day and be at full
power for clean-up and inspection.
OMAFRA housing expert Harry
Huffman. Komoka, noted there are
many different lighting programs
used for chickens or for broilers and
the best way for barns is based
mostly on long experience.
Brenda Pedden, a Strathroy pullet
and hen farmer, feels lower lights
reduces pecking especially at beak
trimming time for pullets. In her cage
houses of 10,000 and 20,000, 7W
fluorescents are being changed to 5W
to shave costs and reduce pecking. At
about 15 - 16 hours of artificial light
for laying hens, ease of bulb
changing and longevity are
important.
For the 80,000 pullets Pedden
raises a year, artificial light is
gradually reduced for chicks from 22
hours the first day until about 11
hours for day 36. In the five pullet
houses, 40 - 60W incandescent bulbs
are cheaply replaced when the pullets
are often flying up and hitting the
ceiling. She noted fluorescents would
be suitable if pullets were in cages.
Although Pedden's energy costs
including lighting for her barns can
be about $20,118 per year, she
mentioned she always follows
hatchery programs because of the
importance of regulated lighting.
Sixteen hours of artificial lighting
is the point where producers find
optimum savings in energy and
maintenance, where a new system of
lighting can be paid back in four
months when set against lower hydro
bills.
Engineer Ron McDonald
compared the cost of installation in a
8400 sq. ft. barn: using 10 four -foot
twin -tube fluorescents, a lighting
system would cost about $2100 and
the cost would be recovered in about
one year if used about 12 hours a day.
Fifty-five 22W compact fluorescents
costing about $1,650 is paid off in
about one year. Fifty-eight
incandescent bulbs serving the same
size barn would cost about $825. An
incandescent bulb left on all day will
last about three and one-half months
and a high density sodium bulb will
last about three and one-half years.
With animals, an indoor setting
with optimum light will generate
growth potential. enhance
reproductive abilities and mean cost
savings for the producer.0
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NOVEMBER 2000 21