Photoperiodic response curves for plasma LH concentrations and age at first egg in female broiler breeders

The objective of this work was to define precisely the response curve for photoinduced luteinizing hormone (LH) release in feed-restricted meat-type (broiler) breeder females and to compare it with the photoperiodic response curve for advance in age at first egg (AFE). Birds with a mean body weight of 2.0kg at 20 weeks of age were transferred from an 8 to a 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5, 13, 14 or 18-h photoperiod; change in plasma LH was measured 4d after photostimulation and subsequent individual AFE recorded. The first significant increase in LH secretion was seen in birds transferred to an 11.5-h photoperiod, but no further significant increases in LH were observed in birds transferred to longer photoperiods. A photoperiodic response curve based on a meta-analysis of changes in photoinduced LH secretion observed in this study and data from an earlier experiment using dwarf broiler breeders indicated a critical daylength of about 9.5h and a saturation daylength of approximately 13h. Similarly, the first significant advance in AFE occurred in birds transferred to an 11-h photoperiod, but with no further significant increases seen in birds transferred to photoperiods >11h. A response curve for photoinduced advances in AFE was produced by meta-analysis using data from the present study and from an earlier investigation involving fewer, more widely spaced photoperiods. It is concluded, in female broiler breeders, that the photoperiodic response curves for photoinduced LH release and AFE are similar, with the point at which the responses begin to rise steeply (classical critical daylength) occurring at 9.5h and the asymptote (classical saturation daylength) at 13h. Functionally, however, the minimum photoperiod to achieve a significant change in either LH secretion or advance in AFE is between 11 and 11.5h.