Skin surface temperature of broiler chickens is correlated to body core temperature and is indicative of their thermoregulatory status.

Extreme thermal conditions may dramatically affect the performance of broilers and other domestic animals, thereby impairing animal welfare and causing economic losses. Although body core temperature is the parameter that best reflects a bird's thermal status, practical and physiological obstacles make it irrelevant as a source of information on the thermal status of commercial flocks. Advances in the technology of infrared thermal imaging have enabled highly accurate, noncontact, and noninvasive measurements of skin surface temperature. Providing that skin surface temperature correlates with body temperature, this technology could enable acquisition of reliable information on the thermal status of animals, thereby improving diagnoses of environmental stress in a flock. This study of broiler chickens found a strong positive correlation between body core temperature and facial surface temperature, as recorded by infrared thermal imaging. The correlation was equally strong at all ages from 8 to 36 d during exposure to acute heat stress with or without proper ventilation and after acclimation to chronic heat exposure. A similar correlation was found by measurements in commercial flocks of broilers. Measurements of blood plasma concentrations of corticosterone, thyroid hormones, and arginine vasotocin confirmed that metabolic activity was low after acclimation to chronic exposure to heat, whereas ventilation was at least as efficient as acclimation in reducing thermal stress but did not impair metabolism. In light of these novel results, commercial benefits of infrared thermal imaging technology are suggested, especially in climate control for commercial poultry flocks. The application of this technique to other domestic animals should be investigated in future experiments.

Improvement of cold resistance and performance of broilers by acute cold exposure during late embryogenesis.

The aim of this study was to fine-tune previous acute cold exposure treatments of broiler embryos during late embryogenesis to improve lifelong cold resistance and performance. Six hundred Cobb hatching eggs were incubated under standard conditions and then exposed to 3 treatments: control; cold treatment in which embryos were exposed to 15°C for 30 min on d 18 and 19 of incubation (30 × 2); and cold treatment similar to 30 × 2 but with 60-min exposures (60 × 2). Egg shell temperature (T(egg)) and heart rate (HR) were monitored pre- and posttreatment. Upon hatching, hatchability, body weight, and body temperature were recorded. From 14 to 35 d of age, three quarters of the chickens in each treatment were raised under ascites-inducing conditions (AIC) and the remaining birds were raised under standard brooding conditions (SBC). The T(egg) and HR decreased significantly in response to increased exposure time on d 18 of incubation. On d 19 of incubation, before the second cold exposure, the 30 × 2 group showed greater T(egg) and HR than the controls, and during the second exposure they maintained these parameters better than the 60 × 2 embryos. No treatment effect on hatchability was observed. At 35 d of age ascites incidence among 30 × 2 chickens under AIC was significantly less than that among the controls (P < 0.01), and body weight of these chickens under either SBC or AIC was significantly higher than that of the controls. Under SBC relative breast muscle weight was significantly higher in 60 × 2 chickens, whereas the relative heart weight was higher in both cold-treated groups than in the controls. It can be concluded that repeated short acute cold exposures during late embryogenesis significantly reduced ascites incidence and improved growth rate under either SBC or AIC. These results may be related to a prenatal epigenetic adaptation of the thermoregulatory and cardiovascular systems to low ambient temperature.

Effect of repetitive acute cold exposures during the last phase of broiler embryogenesis on cold resistance through the life span.

The time just before hatch is critical, because the embryo shifts toward internal and external pipping. This study aimed to determine the beneficial effect of repeated acute reductions of the incubation temperature during the last phase of broiler embryogenesis on posthatch cold tolerance and on the development of ascites syndrome. Fertile eggs were incubated at 37.8 degrees C and 56% RH. At 18 and 19 d of incubation, 3 treatments were conducted, comprising 2 or 3 exposures to 15 degrees C for 30 or 60 min each. During these cold exposures, egg temperature was measured by infrared thermography to determine sensible heat loss from the eggs. At hatch, BW and body temperature were measured. At 3 and 14 d of age, chicks were challenged by cold exposure to 10 degrees C for 3 h. From 14 d of age onward, three-quarters of the chicks were raised under ascites-inducing conditions (AIC) and the others were raised under regular conditions. The sensible heat loss from the eggs was 512 +/- 66 cal and 718 +/- 126 cal for 30 and 60 min of cold exposure, respectively. No effect of treatment on hatchability was observed, but body temperature and BW were greater to significantly greater in the treated chicks. Cold challenges at 3 and 14 d of age revealed a relative thermoregulatory advantage of embryos exposed to cold for 60 min. Under AIC, fewer treated chickens than controls developed ascites. At 38 d of age, BW and relative breast muscle weight were numerically to significantly greater in the treated chicks than in the control chicks when both were raised under regular conditions, whereas no differences were observed among the chicks raised under AIC. Repeated brief acute cold exposures during the last phase of embryogenesis appeared to improve the ability of growing broilers to withstand low ambient temperatures during their life span. Moreover, chickens treated during embryogenesis improved their performance under regular growth conditions.