Evaluation of Thyroid Hormones, Blood Gases, Body Antioxidant Status, the Activity of Blood Enzymes and Bone Characteristics in Broiler Chickens with Cold Induced Ascites

A total of 150 day old female chickens (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 2 groups with 5 replicate and 15 chicks in each replicate to determine the effects of cold induced ascites on performance, antioxidant status, blood enzyme activities and bone metabolism. The two experimental treatments were: 1) chicks that reared under normal temperature (NT) and 2) chicks that reared under cold temperature (CT). The experiment was terminated at 42 day of chicken age. Feed intake was reduced significantly by ascites during the starter period. Weight gain of NT birds was higher than CT birds during the starter, grower, finisher and the whole period (P