EFFECTS OF VITAMINS C AND E ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF SHIKA BROWN LAYERS TRANSPORTED BY ROAD DURING THE HOT-DRY SEASON
EFFECTS OF VITAMINS C AND E ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF SHIKA BROWN LAYERS TRANSPORTED BY ROAD DURING THE HOT-DRY SEASON
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Date
2006-12
Authors
AJAKAIYE, Joachim Joseph
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Abstract
Twenty-two weeks old Shika Brown layer (SBL) chickens administered with vitamins
C (L-ascorbic acid), and E (α-tocopherol) were investigated for their physiological
responses to 6-h road transportation, covering a distance of 280 km at a speed of 40-50
km/h, during the late (May, 2006) hot-dry season in the Northern Guinea Savannah
zone of Nigeria. 90 SBLs were divided into three groups comprising 30 birds each.
Birds in Group I served as control, and they were given 5 ml of sterile water only.
Group II layer chickens were administered orally 200 mg/kg of vitamin C dissolved in
5 ml of sterile water individually. Group III birds were given per os vitamin E at the
dose of 200 mg/kg dissolved in 5 ml of vegetable oil. The following environmental
and physiologic parameters were recorded during the course of the study. They
include the ambient temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), rectal temperature
(RT), some haematological parameters. In addition biochemical and behavioural
responses of both treated and control SBLs were recorded before, during and after 6
hours of road transportation, using standard recording methods. Egg production and
liveweight were also recorded pre- and post-transportation. The AT at the
experimental site fluctuated between the minimum value of 25 and the maximum of
320C, while the RH ranged between 77 and 99%. During the journey, the AT values
inside the vehicle fluctuated between 27.0 and 33.00C, while the RH ranged between
48 - 73%. The meteorological results showed that the weather conditions during the
late hot-dry season were predominantly outside the thermoneutral zone for layer
chickens, indicating that the season was thermally stressful and did not favour
transportation of the birds. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference between the
RT of the control and treated groups pre-transportation The RT values obtained in
control layers were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those recorded for vitamins C
and E-treated layers during and post-transportation. The RT values recorded in treated
and control layers fluctuated with the hour of the day and ambient temperature. The
fact that the RT responses of the transported layers increased significantly and
immediately after loading demonstrated that the loading of layers into the vehicle was
an unusual exercise, affecting the physiological parameters of the birds reared under
the intensive management system. The Packed Cell Volume (PCV), red blood cell
(RBC) count and haemoglobin (Hb) values of vitamins C- and E-treated layer
chickens decreased significantly (P<0.05) from 31.4 1.8 to 24.9 1.5%, 10.5 0.5
to 7.1 1.1 x 106/mm3, and 10.3 0.6 to 8.3 0.5 g/dl pre– and post-transportation,
respectively. In control layers the haematological values obtained pre– and post–
transportation did not differ significantly (P>0.05); with the exception of RBC values,
which decreased significantly (P<0.05) from 10.1 0.3 x 106/mm3 pre-transportation
to 8.0 0.6 x 106/mm3 post-transportation. In control layers, the
heterophil/lymphocyte ratio rose significantly (P<0.05) from 0.26 0.02 pretransportation
to 0.65 0.22 post-transportation. The significant increase in total
protein (TP) in all experimental groups, suggested that the layer chickens suffered
dehydration due to road transportation. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) showed a
significant decrease in the vitamin C-treated and control groups, but a sharp increase
in the vitamin E-treated group. This may be due to its ability to maintain the supply of
egg precursors in plasma of laying hens. Transportation decreased the liveweight of
experimental layer chickens administered vitamins C or E by 9.1%, but in control
layer chickens the decrease was 18.2%. Road transportation of layer chickens resulted
in significant decrease in egg production in control birds, and the percentage reduction
was as high as 44.7%. In vitamin E-treated layer chickens, the loss in egg production
was lowest, 11%. The tonic immobility values indicated that the control birds showed
significant signs of fear and fatigue as they exhibited greater responses to tonic
immobility test than experimental birds. The results showed that pre-transportation administration of vitamin C or E ameliorated the adverse effects of road transportation
stress in layer chickens, reduced the losses in liveweight and egg production. In
conclusion, vitamins C and E reduced the adverse effects of road transportation stress
during the late hot-dry season and enhanced productivity in transported layer chickens.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL AHMADU BELLO
UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (VETERINARY
PHYSIOLOGY)
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY, FACULTY OF
MEDICINE,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
EFFECTS,, VITAMINS C AND E,, PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS,, SHIKA BROWN LAYERS TRANSPORTED,, ROAD,, HOT-DRY SEASON.