Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T12:00:20.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thermoneutral zone of chickens as determined by measuring heat production, respiration rate, and electromyographic and electroencephalographic activity in light and dark environments and changing ambient temperatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. Van Kampen ,
B. W. Mitchell  and
H. S. Siegel
M. Van Kampen
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia
B. W. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S.D.A., S.E.A., F.R., 934 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30601, U.S.A.
H. S. Siegel
Affiliation:
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S.D.A., S.E.A., F.R., 934 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30601, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Electromyographic (EMG) activity, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, heat production (H), respiration rate (RR), and body temperature (TB) of unacclimatized chickens were measured during periods of light and darkness at ambient temperatures (Ta) between 7·7 and 37·7 °C. The difference between pectoral muscle and abdomen temperature was less than 0·1 °C over the entire temperature range. Body temperature increased (P ≤ O·l) when Ta was above 27·5 °C and was higher in the light than in the dark (P ≤ 0·05). Respiration rate decreased significantly with increasing Ta. The decrease, however, was not as great during the dark (P ≤ 0·05) as during the light period (P s£ 001). Heat production decreased (P ≤ 0·01) with increasing Ta up to Ta = 22·3 °C. There was no significant difference between heat production during the light period and that during the dark period. EMG amplitude declined (P ≤ 0·01) with increasing Ta up to 27·5 °C in the light and 22·3 °C in the dark and was higher (P ≤ 0·05) in the light than in the dark. Mean frequency of EMG activity was independent of light and Ta. The percentage of low-frequency EEG activity in the dark did not change significantly over the entire Ta range, but in the light it decreased as Ta increased above 25·7 °C (P ≤ 0·05). The percentage of high-frequency EEG activity appeared as a mirror image of low-frequency activity. Overall results indicated a thermoneutral zone between 32·2 and 37·7 °C in the light and between 27·5 and 37·7 °C in the dark.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 92 , Issue 1 , February 1979 , pp. 219 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, D. J., Garg, K. N. & Marley, E. (1970). Mode of action of α-methylnoradrenaline on temperature and oxygen consumption in young chickens. British Journal of Pharmacology 38, 667–687.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barott, H. G. & Pringle, E. M. (1941). Energy and gaseous metabolism of the hen as affected by temperature. Journal of Nutrition 22, 273–286.Google Scholar
Barr, A. J., Goodnight, J. H., Sall, J. P. & Helwig, J. T. (1976). A User's Guide to SAS, pp. 108–144. Raleigh, North Carolina: Sparks Press.Google Scholar
Benedict, F. G. (1938). Vital Energetics-a Study in Comparative Basal Metabolism. Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Benedict, F. G., Landauer, W. & Fox, E. L. (1932). The physiology of normal and frizzle fowl, with special reference to the basal metabolism. Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 177.Google Scholar
Chaffee, R. R. J., Maghew, W. W., Drebin, M. & Cassuto, Y. (1963). Studies on thermogenesis in cold-acclimated birds. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology 41, 2216–2220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, R. H. (1973). Energy utilization in the laying hen in relation to ambient temperature. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 80, 173–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, B. M. (1976). Thermoregulation in the young fowl (Oallus domesticus). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 54, 141–144.Google Scholar
Hart, J. S. (1962). Seasonal acclimatization in four species of small wild birds. Physiological Zoology 35, 224–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, J. W. & Kimzey, S. L. (1966). Temperature regulation and metabolic rhythms in populations of the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 17, 203–217.Google Scholar
Kendeigh, S. C. (1944). Effect of air temperature on the rate of energy metabolism in the English Sparrow. Journal of Experimental Zoology 96, 1—16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendeigh, S. C. (1969). Energy responses of birds to their thermal environments. The Wilson Bulletin 81, 441–449.Google Scholar
O'neill, S. J. B., Balnave, D. & Jackson, N. (1970). The influence of feathering and environmental temperature on the heat production of the cockerel. Abstracts 14th World's Poultry Science Congress, Madrid, section 4, 913.Google Scholar
Ookawa, T. (1973). Electrophysiological observations during body cooling and rewarming in young chickens. Poultry Science 52, 1019–1029.Google Scholar
Ookawa, T. & Gotah, J. (1965). Electroencephalogram of the chicken recorded from the skull under various conditions. Journal of Comparative Neurology 124, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oshima, S. K., Shimada, K. & Tongue, T. (1974). Radio telemetric observations of the diurnal changes in the respiration rate, heart rate, and intestinal motility of domestic fowl. Poultry Science 53, 503–507.Google Scholar
Reite, M., Pauley, D., Kaufman, C., Stynes, A. J. & Marker, V. (1974). Normal physiological patterns and physiological-behavioural correlations in unrestrained monkey infants. Physiology and Behavior 12, 1021–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renking, L. N., Kilgore, D. L. JR, Fairbanks, E. S. & Hamilton, J. D. (1977). Temperature regulation in normothermic black-tailed prairie dogs, Cynomus ludovicianus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 57A, 161–165.Google Scholar
Romijn, C. & Vreugdenhil, E. L. (1969). Energy balance and heat regulation in the White Leghorn hen. Netherlands Journal of Veterinary Science 2, 32–58.Google Scholar
Smith, A. J. (1973). Some effects of high environmental temperatures on the productivity of laying hens (a review). Tropical Animal Health and Production 5, 259–271.Google Scholar
Spaan, G. & Klussmann, F. W. (1970). Die frequenz des Kaltezitterns bei Tierarten verschiedener Grösse. Pflügers Archiv, European Journal of Physiology 320, 318–330.Google Scholar
Steen, J. & Enger, P. S. (1957). Muscular heat production in pigeons during exposure to cold. American Journal of Physiology 191, 157–158.Google Scholar
Terroine, E. F. & Trautman, S. (1927). Influence de la temperature exterieure sur la production calorique des homeothermes et loi des surfaces. Annales de Physiologie 3, 422–447.Google Scholar
Van Es, A. J. H., Van Aggelen, D., Nijkamp, H. J., Vogt, J. E. & Scheele, C. W. (1973). Thermoneutral zone of laying hens kept in bacteria. Zeitschrift für Tierphysiologie, Tierernhrāung und Futtermittelkunde 32, 121–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Kampen, M. (1974). Physical factors affecting energy expenditure. In Energy Requirements of Poultry (ed. Morris, T. R. and Freeman, B. M.), pp. 47–59. Edinburgh: British Poultry Science Ltd.Google Scholar
Weathers, W. W. & Schoenbaeckler, D. C. (1973). Regulation of body temperature in the Budgerygah. Melopsiltacus undulatus. Australian Journal of Zoology 24, 39–47.Google Scholar
Wekstein, D. R. & Zolman, J. F. (1969). Ontogeny of heat production in chicks. Federation Proceedings, Federation American Societies of Experimental Biology 28, 1023–1028.Google ScholarPubMed
West, G. C. (1965). Shivering and heat production in wild birds. Physiological Zoology 38, 111–120.Google Scholar
West, G. C. & Hart, J. S. (1966). Metabolic responses of Evening Grosbeaks to constant and to fluctuating temperatures. Physiological Zoology 39, 171–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittow, G. C. (1976). Regulation of body temperature In Avian Physiology (ed. Sturkie, P. D.), pp. 146–173. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar