The Effect of Duck Targeted Lighting Programs on Productivity, Health, and Welfare

This study evaluated the impact of a dynamic LED lighting program specifically tailored to Pekin ducks (DDYNs) compared to a conventional commercial lighting program (CON) on growth performance, health, stress, and fear responses. A total of 960 Pekin ducks were reared across two replicates. Production parameters including body weight, average daily gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were recorded. Health was assessed via tibia breaking strength, bone ash content, complete blood cell count, and villus height to crypt depth ratio. Stress was evaluated through physical asymmetry, heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and plasma corticosterone concentration, while fear was measured using tonic immobility and inversion tests. No significant differences were observed in production or health parameters between treatments (p > 0.05). However, ducks reared under the DDYN program exhibited significantly lower stress indicators, including reduced corticosterone (p = 0.011), lower heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (p = 0.045), and decreased asymmetry (p = 0.015). Fear responses were also significantly reduced under DDYN lighting (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that species-tailored dynamic lighting programs can meaningfully improve Pekin duck welfare without compromising production performance.