Lighting regimens and plasma LH and FSH in broiler breeders

Egg production by meat-type fowl is markedly inferior to that from commercial laying hens, and so, to assess the degree to which photorefractoriness might be a contributing factor, male- and female-line broiler breeders were maintained on 8-, 11- or 16-h photoperiods. In addition, to determine the age-related rate of change in response to an increment in photoperiod, other birds were transferred from 8- to 16-h photoperiods at 67 or 124 d. Blood samples were taken from all groups, except those on constant 11-h photoperiods, in both genotypes at 67, 69, 124 and 126 d, and from all lighting groups in the female line at 58 weeks (end of trial), and the plasma was assayed for plasma luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) concentration to investigate possible correlations with rate of sexual maturity, total egg numbers and terminal rates of lay. Prepubertal LH was consistently higher for the female line than for the male line, and higher for 16-h birds than for 8-h birds. At 69 and 126 d, LH values were not significantly different from those 2 d earlier for 8-h birds, but significantly reduced for 16-h birds. There was an increase in LH following photostimulation at 67 d, but no significant change after the 124-d light increase. There were no significant differences in FSH between the two genetic lines, nor any effect of photostimulation at 67 or 124 d. There was a tendency for FSH in 8-h birds to be higher than for 16-h birds, and this difference became significant for male-line birds at 67 d. At 58 weeks, LH was higher for constant 11- and 16-h birds and for birds photostimulated at 67 d than for constant 8-h controls or birds transferred from 8 to 16h at 124 d. Neither baseline nor photoinduced prepubertal changes in plasma LH nor FSH were found to be of value for predicting age at sexual maturity or subsequent rates of egg production. At 58 weeks, LH was not generally correlated with sexual maturity, total eggs or terminal rates of lay, however, there was a negative correlation with age at first egg in birds photostimulated at 124 d. It must be concluded that plasma LH and FSH concentrations are of minimal value to the broiler breeder industry for predicting the degree of photorefractoriness, the age at sexual maturity, or subsequent egg production.