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The tolerance of chickens to acute heat stress may be modified by diet. Broiler chickens fed calcium-adequate (0.90% Ca) or -deficient (0.45% or 0.15% Ca) diets were either fed or not fed for 24 h and exposed to increasing temperatures (from 24 to 41 degrees C). Diets were fed for 7 d before heat stress in Experiment 1 and for 14 d before heat stress in Experiment 2. Body temperature, blood ionized Ca, pH, pCO2, plasma inorganic phosphate and total Ca were determined. During heat stress, Ca+2 and inorganic phosphate were depressed in all treatments. Feeding the 0.45% Ca diet for 7 d reduced hyperthermic body temperature of fed chickens but had no effect on body temperature of unfed chickens relative to the groups fed 0.90% Ca. No further improvement in body temperature response to heat stress was obtained by lowering the dietary Ca level to 0.15% or extending the feeding period to 14 d. Food deprivation was more effective in counteracting the heat-induced rise in body temperature than a dietary Ca deficiency. Heat-induced changes in body temperature, Ca+2, inorganic phosphate and blood pH were highly correlated (P < 0.001). The change in Ca+2 followed a pattern similar to that of changes in body temperature, but changes in inorganic phosphate seemed to be more indicative of changes in pH. Control birds fed 0.90% Ca exhibited the highest changes in Ca+2 and body temperature values. Feeding Ca-deficient diets reduced changes in both Ca+2 and body temperature. Unfed birds, regardless of dietary Ca level, showed the lowest changes in Ca+2 and body temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A study concerning the effect of calcium and phosphorus nutrition on the tolerance of young chickens acutely exposed to high tem perature was conducted. Fasted (24 hours) chicks previously fed a low- phosphorus (LP), adequate-calcium (AC) diet exhibited reduced survival time (ST) to heat exposure when compared to chicks fed an adequate- phosphorus ( AP ) and AC diet. Survival time increased markedly as a result of feeding low dietary calcium. In chicks fed low-calcium diets, the level of dietary phosphorus did not influence heat tolerance. An additional ex periment showed that ST of fasted chicks was inversely proportional to the level of dietary calcium fed. With respect to nonfasted chicks, diet had no effect on ST to heat exposure despite differences in plasma phosphate ( Pi ) and calcium ( Ca ). Plasma phosphate and Ca of fasted chicks were, on the other hand, not indicative of previous diet. The concentration of Ca and Pi of chicks prior to fasting was highly correlated ( P < 0.001 ) with sub sequent heat tolerance. We suggested that the effects of diet on ST of fasted chicks may be related to nutritional alterations in Ca and Pi prior to fasting. Heat-induced changes in Ca and Pi were not related consistently to the occurrence of heat exhaustion. This suggested that changes in Ca and Pi may not be associated with heat tolerance. We concluded that previous calcium and phosphorus nutrition were dependent factors which influence markedly the survival of fasted chickens acutely exposed to high temperature. J. Nutr. 110: 837-850, 1980.

The interaction of phosphorus nutrition and fasting on the tolerance of young chickens acutely exposed to high temperature was studied. We also investigated a possible relationship between plasma phosphate (Pi) and body temperature (Tr) of chicks during heat exposure. Survival time (ST) of 24-hour fasted (F-24) chicks previously fed a low-phosphorus diet (LP) was markedly lower than ST of F-24 chicks fed an adequate phosphorus diet (AP). Diet, however, had no effect on ST of chicks fasted 12 hours (F-12). The apparent metabolic responses of F-24 chicks were qualitatively different than those of F-12 chicks suggesting that the effect of previous phosphorus nutrition was dependent on metabolic status of chicks before heat exposure. The concentration of Pi during heat exposure of F-24 chicks fed the experimental diets was highly (P less than 0.001) correlated with Tr. At heat-induced exhaustion, Tr of chicks fed either diet was not different. Pi of these groups at this point was nearly identical despite marked differences in the time at which this event occurred. An investigation concerning a possible relationship between Pi and the respiratory failure known to occur in hyperthermic chickens, revealed that respiratory muscular fatigue is not the primal cause of respiratory failure. Our results demonstrated that phosphorus nutrition, Pi and metabolic status are dependent factors related to the tolerance of young chickens exposed to high temperature.

The interaction of nutritional status on the tolerance of young chicks to acute heat stress (HS) was investigated. The results of experiment 1 demonstrated that fasting for 24, 48 or 72 hours progressively increased survival time (ST) of chicks exposed to HS. When compared to that of non-fasted (NF) chicks ST more than doubled for 48 and 72 hour fasted chicks. During HS plasma glucose increased in fasted chicks but decreased in NF chicks. Conversely, plasma free fatty acids decreased in fasted chicks and increased in NF chicks. Plasma phosphate of all chicks fell markedly as a result of HS. Chicks of experiment 2 were fed a "carbohydrate-free" diet (CF). Survival time of NF chicks fed CF was significantly greater than that of NF chicks fed a diet containing glucose. The apparent metabolic responses of NF chicks fed CF corresponded to those of fasted chicks of experiment 1. It was suggested that the metabolic substrate utilized by chicks during HS influences ST. The effect of CF diet on ST was also observed in chicks which were fasted for 48 hours prior to HS. Plasma phosphate of chicks exhibiting fasting metabolic responses was not significantly different at heat induced prostration despite marked differences in ST. The results of experiment 3 demonstrated that ST of fasted (24 hour) chicks previously fed a low phosphorus diet was markedly lower than compared to that of fasted chicks fed adequate dietary phosphorus. The effect of diet was found to be dependent on metabolic status since level of dietary phosphorus fed had no effect on ST of NF chicks. The results of the present study indicated that metabolic and nutritional status affect the tolerance of young chicks acutely exposed to high ambient temperature.