Review Article : Heat stress and poultry: Adaptation to climate change, challenges and opportunities for genetic breeding in Kenya

The Earth’s ambient climatic factors, such as temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and precipitation, vary through time space due to climate change. Heat stress, one of the major factors affecting poultry production, is a direct result change, resulting in enormous losses for sector. As heat several physiological changes suppressed immunecompetence, oxidative acid-base balance lead reduced feed intake, efficiency, body weight, meat, egg quality, sometimes mortality. Adverse effects have necessitated adjustments animal husbandry practices housing feeding regimes be implemented. Modifying environment production systems can cushion exposure compensate fitness heat-stressed environments. Some modifications that been tested shown successful attenuating stress include shade, sprinkling cold water on their bodies, adjusting diets reduce metabolic production. extensive genetic diversity indigenous essential change adaptation continuous enhancement stock breeding adaptive features like tolerance. naked neck (Na) frizzle (gene F) gene given attention recent times role withstand poultry. A better understanding acclimatization severe environments, together with methods tools available selection, breeding, matching ecotypes suitable should help minimize resource growth, reproduction sustain food security.