Effects of strain and sex on haematological and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens at different ages

Abstract

Blood is a diagnostic tool for assessing an individual's or flock's health status. This study aimed to characterise 2-broiler strains based on haematological and serum indices as influenced by strain and sex at 6 and 8 weeks of age. Arbor-Acre and Cobb-500 chicks (n = 192) were divided into four groups comprising males and females for each strain with three replicates. They were raised for 56 days at the Poultry Unit of the Teaching and Research Farm, The Federal University of Technology Akure. Blood samples were collected from a total of 24 birds at two birds per replicate at six and eight weeks of age for laboratory analysis. A 2 x 2 factorial design in a completely randomized arrangement was used to analyze the data collected from the samples. Results showed that the Cobb-500 strain had significantly higher (p<0.05) values for packed cell volume (31.63 ± 0.83%), erythrocyte counts (300.17 ± 7.60x10⁴/mm³) and haemoglobin concentration (10.73 ± 0.19g/100ml) compared to the Arbor-Acre strain. The Arbor-Acre strain however had a significantly higher (p<0.05) erythrocyte sedimentation rate value (3.71 ± 0.18%). The study concluded that the differences in haematological and serum biochemical parameters among broiler strains and sexes at six and eight weeks were attributed to genetic factors. These factors underscore their importance when developing health improvement programmes in poultry birds at specific ages. The result of this study could be used by breeders to generate baseline data for health and welfare improvement programmes in poultry birds.