How This Broiler House Is Fitted with S50 Lights

For caged broiler farms, lighting is often harder to adjust than temperature.

In stacked four-tier cage systems, upper cages sit close to overhead lights while the bottom tiers frequently lie in shadow. Uneven lighting within a single house leads to inconsistent feed intake and uneven growth, resulting in substantial weight variation at slaughter. Recently, we installed S50 farm-specific lights in this four-tier caged broiler house. Lights were fitted along both sides of the aisle, cage by cage, covering the entire house. The photos below show real on-site results after installation.

1. Why Is Lighting So Challenging for 4-Tier Cage Rearing?

Conventional cage lights are mostly mounted on the ceiling. Light sources are near the upper cages but far from the bottom tiers. Coupled with obstructions from cage mesh, feed lines and manure belts, the illuminance actually received by chickens on lower tiers is often less than half that of the upper tiers.

The cascading effects of uneven lighting are obvious:

- Birds in brightly lit tiers crowd and compete for feed, while those in dim tiers eat insufficiently;

- Combined differences in temperature and light between upper and lower tiers worsen weak chicks and underperforming cage sections;

- Long-term lighting disorders trigger feather pecking and vent pecking, raising mortality and culling rates.

Essentially, a 4-tier or higher cage house houses “four small enclosures with different lighting conditions” under one roof. Improper light mounting position or angle means chickens on the bottom two tiers are virtually eating “in the dark”.

2. The S50 Solution: Deliver Light to the Base of Every Cage Tier

To resolve shading problems in four-tier cage systems, the S50 adopts three key designs:

1. Custom light distribution angle and lamp spacing

Lights are installed cage by cage along aisles. Light passes through optical diffusion and shines diagonally into cages, reducing harsh shadows cast by metal cage mesh. This minimizes illuminance discrepancies across top, middle and bottom tiers. The continuous lighting along the aisle shown in the photo is a direct result of this layout.

2. Full-spectrum, 3000K warm yellow light

This colour temperature mimics natural light at dawn and dusk, gentle and non-glaring to avoid stress. Broilers maintain steadier feeding behaviour under mild warm-yellow light. Smooth transitions when switching lights on/off prevent flock panic caused by sudden bright illumination.

3. Segmented spectrum covering the full growth cycle of broilers

One lamp unlocks benefits from multiple wavelength bands:

- Blue band (400–480 nm): Reduces excitability and lowers feather and vent pecking;

- Green band (500–560 nm): Promotes bone and tendon development and reduces leg disorders;

- Red band (620–680 nm): Stimulates feeding activity and improves late-stage weight gain and flock uniformity.

From brooding to slaughter, each spectral band targets specific growth objectives, eliminating the need for lamp replacement mid-cycle.

 3. Rigorous Performance Specifications for Cage House Environments

Cage poultry houses are humid, dusty and corrosive due to ammonia, so lamps must withstand harsh conditions:

- DC 36V safe low voltage: No electric shock risks for farm staff during maintenance, ensuring stable operation in humid environments;

- IP67 ingress protection rating: Resists splashes from water curtain flushing and in-shed disinfection sprays;

- Prismatic light source chips: Low light decay and long service life, maintaining stable illuminance throughout a full production cycle.

Replacing faulty lamps one after another is extremely labour-intensive in four-tier cage houses. The S50 is designed so lights remain functional until the whole batch of chickens is ready for slaughter, removing the need for frequent overhead lamp replacement.

 4. On-Farm Outcomes After Installation

On-site photos reveal continuous lighting along the aisle, with even warm-yellow light spots inside all four cage tiers. Chickens are evenly distributed with no tendency to avoid light and cluster together, and feeding areas are clearly lit.

Three most tangible benefits for farmers:

- Uniform flock at slaughter within the same batch — weight gaps between upper and lower tiers are significantly narrowed;

- Stable feed conversion ratio: Consistent feed intake means less feed wasted on stress responses;

- Reduced pecking behaviour and mortality: Optimized light colour curbs feather and vent pecking and cuts labour spent culling weak birds.

Closing Remarks

Lighting is far more than simply brightening a barn. For four-tier and higher cage systems, lighting is an easily underestimated factor that directly affects feed conversion ratio and slaughter uniformity.

The S50 farm-specific lamp is tailor-made for four-tier and above cage rearing — the lamp that delivers  even light to every tier.

Good Light Technology Co., Ltd.

Specialized Poultry Lighting Solutions

Lighting layout design for new farms | Lighting retrofits for existing farms

Enquiries welcome for custom lighting solutions for poultry farming.