Broilers thermoregulation

[Chemist. Ashfaq Ahmad]

panting

[Muhammad Zeeshan Asghar]

Broiler birds regulate their body temperature through behavioral adaptations, such as seeking shade or water to cool down and fluffing their feathers to trap heat. They also utilize physiological mechanisms like panting to increase evaporative cooling. Additionally, they adjust their feed intake and behavior to minimize heat or cold stress.

[Jeffery Escobar]

Birds do not have sweat glands in the skin like most mammals so evaporative cooling is done via panting (i.e., gular flutter). Posture is perhaps the main way birds use to regulate body heat loss or conservation. In chickens there are low feathering areas that birds can expose or cover during changes in ambient temperature. Birds can extend or contract their wings to regulate body temperature. During hot weather it is very important to provide adequate air velocity over the birds to maintaining cool and help with panting. Birds are social animals so they can huddle during cold weather to distance from each other during hot weather and therefore it is important to house birds with the appropriate stocking density for their age. Finally, remember that during the first 10 days after hatch chickens are poikilotherms (“cold blooded”) and towards the end of this period will transition to endotherms (“warm blooded”).

[Toyin Ogunsola]

Conduction

Convection

Evaporation

Radiation

[Bello Bashir Bello]

Also what are the mechanisms of heat loss and heat gain in broilers ?