Interrelationships between environmental temperature and nutritional status of chicks

Area of Science:

• Animal Physiology
• Nutritional Science
• Environmental Stress Biology

Background:

• Understanding the interplay between nutrition and environmental stress is crucial for animal welfare and productivity.
• Acute heat stress poses a significant challenge to poultry, affecting their survival and physiological responses.
• Previous research has indicated potential links between dietary components and thermotolerance, but specific nutritional impacts require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between nutritional status and the resistance of chicks to acute heat stress.
• To determine how fasting duration and dietary composition influence survival rates under heat stress conditions.
• To examine the specific effects of phosphorus and calcium deficiencies or excesses on heat stress tolerance.

Main Methods:

• Chicks were subjected to varying fasting durations (0-72 hours).
• Dietary interventions included triglyceride-based versus glucose-based nonprotein calories.
• Specific phosphorus and calcium deficiencies or excesses were induced in the diets.
• Survival times of chicks under controlled acute heat stress were recorded and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Progressive fasting up to 72 hours significantly increased chick survival time under heat stress.
• Diets supplying nonprotein calories as triglycerides improved survival compared to glucose, in both nonfasted and fasted states.
• Phosphorus deficiency reduced survival in fasted chicks, whereas calcium deficiency enhanced survival in 24-hour fasted chicks.
• Excess dietary calcium progressively decreased survival time during heat stress.

Conclusions:

• Nutritional status, particularly fasting and dietary fat source, plays a critical role in modulating chick resistance to acute heat stress.
• Specific mineral imbalances (phosphorus and calcium) have differential effects on heat stress survival, depending on fasting status.
• The chick serves as a viable model for studying the complex interactions between nutrition and acute heat stress responses.