A Comparison of Physiological Variables as Observed between Healthy Broilers and Broilers with Subclinical Ascites

An experiment was conducted in which 30 broiler chickens were selected based on their ECG and designated as healthy or subclinical ascites. Subsequently, blood samples were collected and assayed for hemoglobin, hematocrit and differential leukocyte count. Finally, all the birds were euthanized and their hearts harvested for the ventricle cuts. Results indicated that broilers with subclinical ascites had numerically higher hemoglobin as well as heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. However, the differences between treatment groups were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, hematocrit, the proportion of right ventricle to body weight, and the weight ratio of right ventricle to total ventricles were significantly (P<0.05) higher in broiler chickes with subclinical ascites as compared with healthy birds.