Proper lighting has a big influence on the wellbeing and hormonal system of your animals.
By exposing cattle to day lengths of 14-16 hours of at least 120-200 lux, a number of changes occur in animal performances. Young stock could experience accelerated growth, dairy cattle goes into oestrus quicker after birhting and the milk production rises with 6-15% (Biewenga & Winkel 2003).
Although the importance of lighting is primarily known for cattle, the importance of lighting should not be underestimated in pig stables. Proper lighting makes it easier to detect diseases and it improves the working conditions. On top of that, pig stables have to satisfy certain legal obligations: 40 lux light during 8 hours per day (De Boerderij, 2004 & 2007).
It is shown that the day length and light strength influence the production and feed usage. Next to that, proper lighting is one of the ways to keep picking and canibalism under control. Furthermore, the right light distribution minimizes out-of-nest eggs (Ellen, H.H. e.a. 2007).
Even though research on the effect of extra lighting is limited in goat farming, it is very likely that extra lighting will contribute to more milk per animal in this sector as well (HendrixUtd, 2008). When there is a lot of light, the melatonin production is decelarated and more of the hormone Insuline Like Growth Factor (IGF-1) is produced by the liver. This hormone stimulates the production of milk in the udder.