Both in rearing and production, broiler breeders are restricted in their feed intake to be able to control their body weight. This means that when feeding starts, they are eager to get their share.

Feeding systems, especially chain feeders, tend to fill up from one side, as the feed is distributed from a hopper. Even when the tracks are running in opposite direction, the feeder space is sufficient (15 cm per bird for chain feeders) and the feed is distributed in a limited time (preferably not more than 4 minutes) we will still see numerous birds crowding at the place where the feed enters the house.

In such a situation it can be beneficial to distribute the feed in the dark, as the birds will tend to stay where they are when the lights are turned off. We can turn the lights off before we start running the feeders, and put it back on when the feed is distributed over the house. This dark period will not influence the light stimulation of the birds. As it is only a short period, the birds will not see it as a night but more as a dark period during a normal day, and will therefore not react with hormonal changes.

After the feeder lines has been running once, the remaining feed can be distributed with the lights on, as the crowding at the enterance of the feed system into the house will not take place anymore. 

Of course this can only be practiced when the houses are really light tight. As birds do not need a lot of light to orientate themselves, a house which is not light tight will still experience crowding at the enterance of the feeding system into the house.

An alternative system for this is the so called signal lights (see "Signal lights during feeding")