Journal of Animal Health and Production

Research Article
J. Anim. Health Prod. 9(4): 471-478
Http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.jahp/2021/9.4.471.478
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Fardos A.M. Hassan, Rehab Reda*

Animal Wealth Development Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, 44511, Egypt.

Abstract | The temperature of rearing facilities is a crucial aspect in broiler production. This study investigated the seasonal impact on performance, economic value, hematological and biochemical indices in broilers. Forty-two-day rearing trials were conducted for each season over the year in winter, spring, summer, and autumn using (1-day-old) male (Cobb-500) broilers (n = 120), grouped into six replicates of 20 birds each. All chicks were kept under hygienic and conventional broiler management and fed ad libitum with pelleted maize and a soybean-based diet. The birds raised in winter exhibited superior body weight, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio when compared with those raised in the other seasons (P ˂ 0.01). Additionally, chickens raised in winter yielded the highest profit margin and incurred the lowest production cost for 1 kg live weight when compared with those raised in spring, summer, and autumn (P ˂ 0.01). The hematological parameters of packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, and total red blood cell count, were affected significantly by the seasons and exhibited the highest values in winter and the lowest ones in summer (P = 0.001, P = 0.009, and P = 0.032, respectively). Additionally, the serum biochemical blood indices of glucose, total protein, calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P) were significantly higher in winter than they were in summer (P ˂ 0.01). Temperature influenced triiodothyronine levels, which were significantly higher in winter than in the other seasons (P = 0.004). The results of this study revealed that winter was the preferable season for raising chickens in terms of profitability is the winter season. The results also suggest that during various seasons the variable temperature affects not only performance and economic values but also affected blood parameters.

Keywords | Season, Performance, Profitability, Hemato-biochemical parameters, Broiler