Physiological Response of Domestic Fowl to Abrupt Changes of Ambient Air Temperature

CONSIDERABLE research has been conducted on physiological processes of the domestic fowl while exposed to stressful environmental temperatures. However, relatively few investigations have been conducted during the period immediately following exposure. This experiment was designed to determine the effect of an abrupt change in ambient temperature on heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and body temperature. Of special interest was the time relationship between initial response to a changed ambient temperature and the new level of function. Prosser (1964) refers to this as the “time course of physiological variation in rate function.” When an animal is exposed to a stressing temperature, there is a rapid initial change in level of metabolism and other physiological parameters. Following this period of rapid change, which generally shows an overshoot or undershoot, there is a plateauing of functional level but at a different level than at the previous temperature. Cardiovascular activity has been found…