Early-age thermal manipulation and supplemental antioxidants on physiological, biochemical and productive performance of broiler chickens in hot-tropical environments

Abstract

Heat stress has been ranked as a critical environmental issue confronting chicken farmers worldwide because of its detrimental effect on the growth, performance and health of the birds. This study evaluated the effects of early-age thermal manipulation (EATC) and supplemental antioxidants on the physiological responses of broilers in a hot tropical environment. A total of 300 day-old Ross broiler chicks were allocated to five thermal and dietary treatments, having 5 replicates of twelve birds each. The treatments were: chicks reared using the conventional method (CC), chicks exposed to early thermal manipulation with a temperature of 38 °C at day 5 with no antioxidant supplementation (TC), TC plus vitamin E at 250 mg/kg of feed (TV), TC plus selenium at 0.5 mg/kg of feed (TS) and the combination of TS and TV(TVS). The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design and data collected were analyzed using SAS (2008). The results showed that TVS broilers had significantly higher (P < 0.05) body weights at the finisher phase than the other treatment groups. The feed conversion ratio of TVS broilers was comparable to the TV group but lower (P < 0.05) than the other treatments. Reduced levels (P < 0.05) of heterophil, lymphocytes and hetrophil and lymphocyte ratio were recorded in the TVS compared to TV, TS and TC broilers. On day 42, the rectal temperature was significantly higher in CC than those in other treatment groups, which were comparable. TVS birds had higher (P < 0.05) weights of spleen, liver and lower abdominal fat than other treatments. The lowest concentration of plasma malondialdehyde and the highest activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were recorded in TV and TVS birds. The study concluded that the growth performance and oxidative status in broilers were improved by the combination of EATC with supplemental Se and vitamin E (TVS).

Keywords:

• Broiler
• thermotolerance
• tropics
• environment
• antioxidant, conditioning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data accessibility statement

Data cannot be shared publicly at present because it forms part of an ongoing study.

Animal welfare statement

The Animal Experimental Board of the Department of Animal Physiology, College of Animal Science and Livestock Production, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, approved the experimental protocol.

Additional information

Funding

There was no particular grant for this research from governmental, private, or nonprofit funding organizations.

Notes on contributors

Aderanti Ifeoluwa Oni

Aderanti Ifeoluwa Oni just finished her master’s from the Department of Animal Physiology at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta. Her research interest focuses on Nutritional Physiology, Growth and Environmental Physiology. She is working on starting her doctoral degree. She is presently a research assistant at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, where she had her first and second degrees. She has participated in several research studies involving broiler production and has five publications in reputable journals.

John Adesanya Abiona

Prof. John Adesanya Abiona has completed his PhD from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria and postdoctoral studies from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, India. He is a coordinator of the part-time Degree program in the Department of Animal Physiology at the same Institution. He had also served as a postgraduate coordinator for several years. Presently, he is also one of the coordinators of Timetable and examination matters at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He is also the national Secretary for a research network in Giant African Land Snails (NETGALs) in Nigeria (now Nigerian Malacological Society). He has published more than 86 papers in reputed journals. His area of expertise is Animal Reproductive Physiology/Immunology. He is the Deputy Dean of the College of Animal Science and Livestock Production at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.

Adeboye Olusesan Fafiolu

Prof. Adeboye Olusesan Fafiolu is the current Director of the World Bank Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Development and Sustainable Environment. His research interest revolves around evaluating feedstuffs and their improvement using innovative technologies. He had proposed and used exogenous enzymes, chelated minerals and other means for improved utilization of unconventional feedstuffs. In the course of his research efforts, he has attracted several donor funds, which were managed successfully. He competed for national and international donor funds and won several such funds. Dr Fafiolu has over one hundred and twenty (120) publications in print, both at local and internationally reputable outlets, with high impact. He participated in running many research teams as a principal or co-investigator. He is particularly motivated in judicious management of donor funds running into several billions of naira with great success.

Oyegunle Emmanuel Oke

Dr. Oyegunle Emmanuel Oke is an Animal Environmental Physiologist with a thorough background in Animal Science. He earned his PhD in Animal Physiology in 2012. Before this, he had an Agric. in Animal Physiology and a B. Agric. in Animal Production and Health in 2010 and 2006, respectively. He has a vast research and teaching experience of over a decade. He recently won a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) grant, and he is a visiting scholar at the Freie University, Berlin, Germany. He was awarded a DAAD Scholarship as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa. Before this, he received a prestigious Postdoc Fellowship award at the World Bank Centre of Excellence in Poultry Sciences, University of Lomé, Lomé Togo. He has published in peer-reviewed journals (local and international) and participated in local and international conferences. Dr. Oke is the Deputy Programme Leader of Livestock Science and Sustainable Environment at the World Bank Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Development and Sustainable Environment, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.