title: Ascites in broilers. 1. Experimental factors evoking symptoms related to ascites.
abstract: Male broilers of two genetically related stocks with divergent growth rates and feed conversion ratios were used to study metabolic backgrounds on the occurrence of pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, hypoxemia, and ascites in poultry. An experiment with a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 factorial split-plot arrangement of treatments with 96 groups of 12 broilers was performed. Effects of stock and environmental factors such as ambient temperature, dietary fat, and dietary energy on performance, energy metabolism, oxygen consumption, hematocrit values, and mortality were investigated in broilers from 1 to 5 wk of age. Dissimilar responses of the two stocks to environmental factors reflected genotype by environment interactions and revealed metabolic disorders related to heart failure and ascites. The results indicated that in the stock with the lower feed conversion ratio, a fast protein accretion was achieved together with a reduced ability to convert chemical energy to metabolic heat and to deposit body fat directly from ingested fat. Birds with a low feed conversion ratio show less flexibility in metabolic adaptation to a changing environment, which can account for the development of ascites.
authors.affiliation: Spelderholt Centre for Poultry Research and Information Services, Beekbergen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Scheele
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De Wit
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Frankenhuis
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Vereijken
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001201:Ascites / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary*; D001835:Body Weight; D002645:Chickens; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism; D004435:Eating; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006400:Hematocrit / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats