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Effect of Environmental Temperature on Immune Response of Broilers

Departamento de Patologia Veterinÿria Faculdade de Ciências Agrÿrias e Veterinÿrias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

Correspondence: E. Santin, E-mail: Besantin{at}aol.com

Several studies demonstrate that environmental temperature can influence the immune response of poultry. The objective of this research was to determine at which stage in the life of a bird this effect is greatest. In experiment 1, broiler breeder eggs were incubated at three different temperatures (36.8 ± 0.2, 37.8 ± 0.2, and 38.8 ± 0.2°C) from the 13th day of incubation to hatching. After hatching, birds were raised in thermoneutral temperature. In experiment 2, 144 1-d-old broiler chicks were distributed into three environmental chambers with different temperatures (18 ± 2, 24 ± 2, and 32 ± 2°C). In both experiments, the humoral immune responses to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and infectious bursal disease (IBDV) were evaluated. NDV and IBDV antibody titers were not significantly different (P > 0.05) among treatments.

Key Words: broiler • temperature • humoral immunity