424THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND LIGHT REGIME ON THE REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF PIGEONSThis study was aimed to investigate the effect of environmental factors and light regimes on pigeons’ reproductive performance. The data of reproductive performance of pigeons over three years were collected. The measurement of environmental factors of lofts and reproductive records were taken, meanwhile, the correlations between environmental factors and reproductive performance of pigeons were compared. White King pigeons were exposed to different light regimes: 13L:11D, 14L:10D, 15L:9D, 16L:8D and natural light (as control). Meanwhile, the egg production, fertility rate and birth rate under these regimes were recorded. The data of production over 3 years showed that the reproductive regularity of pigeons had obvious seasonal characteristics. The environmental factors measured in the pigeon loft had no statistical correlations with reproductive performance of pigeons (P> 0.05), however, the light intensity had negative correlation with the egg-laying interval (P< 0.05). The egg production and fertility rate were higher in 15L:9D than in control group (P< 0.05), the birth rate was also higher but had no statistical difference (P> 0.05). Our findings indicated that the light was a key role in regulating the reproductive performance of pigeons, which should be used efficiently to improve the performance of pigeonsjtding@yzu.edu.cnResearch5122015Light regime,Reproductive performance,Environmental factor,PigeonY.Wang,J.C. Liu,J.T. Ding,H.M. YangCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, P. R. China,College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, P. R. China,College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, P. R. China,College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, P. R. China