Diurnal Fluctuations in Rectal Temperature of Local Chickens During the Hot Dry Season of the Sahel Zone

Abstract

Experiments were performed on 10 local Chickens with the aim of determining their diurnal temperature fluctuations during the hot dry season (April) in Maiduguri, Borno State. The rectal temperatures (RT) were recorded with a standard clinical thermometer every hour from 06.00 to 19.00 hours. The RT of the chickens rose gradually from its minimum value of 41.3 ± 0.1OC at 07.00 hours and attained its peak value of 42.0 ± 0.0OC at 14.00 hours. The overall mean RT obtained was 41.7 ± 0.0OC. The diurnal fluctuation in the RT of the local chickens was 0.7 ± 0.0OC. The correlation between time of the day and RT value was not significant (r = 0.3435, p> 0.05). The result indicated a slight rhythm in the rectal temperature of the local chicken. The low diurnal range of 0.7 ± 0.0OC suggests that the hot dry season that exists in this part of the country may not be thermally stressful to the local chickens.

Key words: Diurnal fluctuations, rectal temperature, local chickens, hot dry season, Sahel zone