The effect of water shower spray on stress physiology and mortality in broiler chickens subjected to road transportation under the hot and humid tropical condition.

Trop Anim Health Prod

Laboratory of Sustainable Animal Production and Biodiversity, Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Published: October 2022

This study was performed to investigate the effect of water shower spray on rectal temperature (RT), serum levels of corticosterone (CORT), heat shock protein (HSP) 70 and creatine kinase (CK) in broiler chickens road transported at different times of the day. A total of 320 male broiler chickens (35 days of age) were crated and subjected to either water shower spray (WS) for 10 min or no water shower (control). The WS and control broilers were then loaded into an open truck and transported either from 0900 to 1100 h (29.0 °C and 89.0% RH) (AM) or 1900 h to 2100 h (26.0 °C and 94.0% RH) (PM) with an average speed of 80 km/h. The CORT of AM birds were significantly reduced by WS, but the treatment had negligible influence on the PM group. Transportation during AM significantly elevated RT, CORT and HSP70 compared to the PM group. Water shower spraying of birds before transit significantly reduced RT and HSP70 compared to controls. Neither water shower treatment nor transportation time had a significant on CK and mortality rate of broilers. In conclusion, water shower spray is beneficial to alleviate the physiological stress response in road-transported broilers under the hot and humid tropical environment.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03360-yDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

water shower
28
shower spray
16
broiler chickens
12
hot humid
8
humid tropical
8
hsp70 compared
8
water
7
shower
6
spray
4
spray stress
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!