Effects of an intermittent lighting schedule on the time of egg-laying and the levels of luteinizing hormone, progesterone and corticosterone in the plasma of the domestic hen.

The use of a complex lighting schedule consisting of five blocks of light and five alternating periods of darkness every 24 h completely abolished the normal pattern of egg-laying characteristic of the domestic hen. Animals tended to lay continuously and not in clutch sequences. Ovipositions were not restricted to an 8- to 10-h period of the day, instead they occurred at any time of the solar day with slightly more occurring during the hours of darkness. The preovulatory discharge of LH was not restricted to an 8- to 10-h 'open period' and the interval between the peak values of LH in the plasma and the time of lay of the corresponding egg was 32.3 h, i.e. identical to the interval found using a normal lighting schedule of 14 h light: 10 h darkness. There were some indications that minor fluctuations in the concentrations of LH in plasma occurred rhythmically with the changes in illumination, but the concentrations of progesterone showed only a single, preovulatory peak. The concentrations of corticosterone in the plasma were high and showed marked fluctations but this did not appear to affect either the levels of progesterone or the time of ovulation.