Egg production response of sex-linked albino (sa1) and colored (S) hens to high and low light intensities during brooding-rearing

In order to study the response of albino genotype to different light intensities, sex-linked albino or silver female chicks hatched from heterozygous sires were distributed in 2 windowless chick rooms, one with a light intensity of about 1 lux, the other receiving 170 lux on average. At the age of 17 weeks all the pullets were submitted to a high level of light intensity of 210 to 480 lux. All the females were given 10 h light per 24 h till 17 weeks, then 14 h. Age at first egg of birds receiving high light intensity as chicks was 14 d earlier, their hen-day production was slightly superior, and their mean egg weight 1.5 g lower as compared to females receiving dim light. On an average, the albino gene depressed initial growth, retarded age at first egg by 5 d, lowered egg weight by 2 g, increased hen-day production by 5%, and lowered the frequency of pause days. With low light intensity during brooding-rearing, hen-day production of the albino hens was 7.5% higher than that of colored females and they gave 12.8 eggs more, similarly to a previous experiment.