Sexual maturity and persistency of lay in the Chukar partridge given stimulatory light at different ages

In two separate trials, age at sexual maturity (lay of 1st egg) and total eggs laid in a 13-week production period were determined for the Chukar partridge given stimulatory light at 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 or 30 weeks. The best responses occurred with hens given stimulatory light when 26 weeks of age or older. More than 85 percent of these hens laid, and production ranged from 15 to 25 eggs per hen. The youngest age at 1st egg was 161 days, required by one hen given stimulatory light at 16 weeks. Many hens given stimulatory light at 24 weeks or younger failed to lay, and egg production was extremely poor in those that did lay. Based on our results, best egg production can be attained when birds are given stimulatory light at 28 weeks, allowed to lay for 13 weeks, then cycled to lay again when 50 weeks of age. Hens of superior laying ability can be detected in the first cycle of lay, thus reducing the time that would be required to identify these same birds if allowed to lay under natural daylight conditions.