Hematocrit, Hemoglobin and Plasma-Protein Levels of Broilers Reared under Constant Temperatures

WINTER (1935) found that during cold weather the hemoglobin content of the blood of hens increased significantly. Huston (1960, 1965) and Washburn and Huston (1968) compared the packed erythrocyte volume of birds in controlled-temperature environments and found that it increased in the colder environmental temperatures. Olson (1937) found that the number of erythrocytes in the domestic fowl increased during the winter. Squibb et al. (1959) compared the serum protein level of birds exposed at 5 weeks of age for 7 days to temperatures of 23.9° and 37.2°C. This had no effect on serum protein level. A study was conducted to determine the development of broilers reared under various constant temperatures from 1 to 56 days of age as measured by blood hematocrit, hemoglobin and total plasma protein. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Duplicate experiments were conducted. For each experiment, 120 commercial broiler chicks were placed immediately after hatching in each of three environmental…