Interrelationships between environmental temperature and nutritional status of chicks.

The interrelationship between nutritional status and resistance to acute heat stress has been studied in chicks. Fasting up to 72 hours progressively increases survival time. Chicks that had been consuming a diet in which all nonprotein calories were supplied as triglycerides as compared to glucose survive longer in both nonfasted and 48-hour fasted states. Phosphorus deficiency reduces survival time of 24- or 48-hour fasted chicks but not nonfasted chicks. A calcium deficiency enhances survival time of 24-hour fasted chicks subjected to heat stress but a calcium excess progressively reduces survival time. The chick may serve as a model to study the relationship of nutritional status to acute heat stress.