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Impact of exposure time to harsh environments on physiology, mortality, and thermal comfort of day-old chickens in a simulated condition of transport.
- Source :
-
International Journal of Biometeorology . Jun2019, Vol. 63 Issue 6, p777-785. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- The aim of this study was to assess the variation of physiological responses and mortality of day-old chicks subjected to different thermal conditions and exposure times during simulated transport. For this purpose, day-old chicks (n = 900) were used and subjected to simulated conditions of transport in a climate chamber. The experimental design was a completely randomized block design, with the structure of the treatments in a 3 × 3 factorial scheme (thermal ranges and time intervals) and each level of containers considered a block. The physiological variables used in this trial were body weight, respiratory rate, cloacal temperature, average surface temperature, and gene expression of heat shock protein (HSP70). Regarding body weight, a small variation was observed between treatments (P > 0.05). The animals subjected to the heat treatment exhibited respiratory rates above 100 movements per minute (P < 0.05), average cloacal temperatures above 44.7 °C, surface temperatures above the comfort zone (greater than 39.6 °C; P < 0.05), and increased gene expression of HSP70 (P < 0.001), especially after 3 initial hours of exposure. In addition, the heat treatment lead to increased mortality of the animals (over 6%). Also in the cold treatment, despite the absence of mortality, the animals showed hypothermia from 3 h of exposure, based on the results of the average surface (28 °C) and cloacal temperatures (39.6 °C; P < 0.05). In this way, the results imply that the effects of thermal stress caused by heat as well as by cold in a simulated transport condition are increased when traveling for more than 3 h, indicating a trend of rising mortality after long-term transportation of day-old chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *MORTALITY
*THERMAL comfort
*HEAT transfer
*HEAT shock proteins
*THERMAL properties
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00207128
- Volume :
- 63
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Biometeorology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 136366370
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-019-01691-4