Incidence of Floor Eggs as Influenced by Time of Nest Installation, Artificial Lighting and Nest Location

Abstract

Placing normal-size White Leghorn pullets in pens with nests at 23 or at 18 weeks of age resulted in 1.56 and 0.65% floor eggs, respectively, during a 40-week test. Normal W.L. pullets in open-type pens with natural plus incandescent light and natural ventilation laid 0.79% floor eggs while those in closed pens with only incandescent light and with positive-pressure fan ventilation laid 6.42% floor eggs during a 40-week test. Dwarf W.L. pullets housed in darkened pens with an incandescent bulb as the major light source preferred nests under the bulb rather than on the opposite side of the room from the bulb. Other nest placements, shading the nests from the bulb and using a 100 W. instead of a 25 W. bulb gave variable results, with no statistically significant difference.