Oni Aderanti Ifeoluwa, Bello Yusuf Olatunji, Ibigbami Damilola Janet, Ishola Christianah Adewumi, Adesanya Segun Oluwafemi, Adeniran Daniel Adeyinka, Oke Oyegunle Emmanuel
Animal Physiology Department, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Animal Production and Health Department, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 5;15(1):28653. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-01048-5.
The perinatal experiences in broiler chickens can have a significant impact on the phenotypes of offspring and can affect how they interact with their environment, affecting their health, productivity and welfare. This study aimed to evaluate the synergistic effect of early-age feed restriction and thermal conditioning on the physiological responses of broiler chickens in hot tropical environments. Two hundred forty male Marshall broiler chicks were assigned to four treatments with four replicates of fifteen birds each. The treatments comprised: broiler chicks raised conventionally (CO), broiler chicks exposed to 60% feed restriction at days 4, 5 and 6 (FR), chicks thermally-conditioned (38 °C) at day 5(TC) for 24 h and broiler chicks subjected to thermal conditioning at (38 °C) at day five and exposed to 60% feed restriction at 4,5 and 6 (TCFR). A completely randomized design was used for the experiment. The results obtained revealed that the final body weights of TCFR chickens were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than TC, which were higher (P < 0.05) than FR and CO chickens. The feed conversion ratio of CO chickens was higher (P < 0.05) than those of TC, FR and TCFR. A higher (P < 0.05)concentration of serum malondialdehyde was recorded in CO chickens than the other treatment groups. Overall, this study has demonstrated that the combination of early feed restriction and thermal conditioning positively affected broiler chickens' growth performance and antioxidant status in hot tropical environments. The findings of this study suggest that the use of early-age feed restriction and thermal conditioning could be beneficial in alleviating heat stress in broiler chickens.
肉鸡的围产期经历会对后代的表型产生重大影响，并会影响它们与环境的相互作用方式，进而影响其健康、生产力和福利。本研究旨在评估早期限饲和热调节对热带炎热环境中肉鸡生理反应的协同作用。将240只雄性马歇尔肉鸡雏鸡分为4种处理，每种处理15只鸡，重复4次。处理包括：常规饲养的肉鸡雏鸡（CO）、在第4、5和6天接受60%限饲的肉鸡雏鸡（FR）、在第5天进行热调节（38°C）24小时的雏鸡（TC）以及在第5天进行热调节（38°C）并在第4、5和6天接受60%限饲的肉鸡雏鸡（TCFR）。实验采用完全随机设计。所得结果显示，TCFR组鸡的最终体重显著高于TC组（P<0.05），TC组高于FR组和CO组（P<0.05）。CO组鸡的饲料转化率高于TC组、FR组和TCFR组（P<0.05）。CO组鸡血清丙二醛浓度高于其他处理组（P<0.05）。总体而言，本研究表明，早期限饲和热调节相结合对热带炎热环境中肉鸡的生长性能和抗氧化状态有积极影响。本研究结果表明，采用早期限饲和热调节可能有助于缓解肉鸡的热应激。
