title: Effect of feeding different levels of Azolla pinnata on blood biochemicals, hematology and immunocompetence traits of Chabro chicken.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to see the effect of feeding different levels of Azolla meal on blood biochemicals, hematology and immunocompetence traits of Chabro chicken.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted on 160 Chabro chicks, which were randomly divided into four treatment groups each with four replicates of 10 birds. The first treatment (T1) served as a control in which basal diets was offered without Azolla supplementation while in T2, T3, and T4 groups, basal diet was replaced with Azolla meal at 5%, 7.5%, and 10% levels, respectively. A feeding trial was conducted upto 8 weeks. At the last week of trial, blood samples were collected randomly from one bird of each replicate and plasma was separated to estimate certain biochemical parameters, some blood metabolites, minerals and enzymes like alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Hematological parameters such as hemoglobin, packed cell volume, total leukocytes count and differential leukocytes count were estimated in fresh blood just after collection. The humoral immune response was measured against sheep red blood cells,and cell-mediated immune response was measured against phyto hemagglutinin lectin from Phaseolus vulgaris (PHA-P).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study showed that hematological profile of the Chabro bird was not affected by any treatment except heterophil and lymphocyte which was found higher in T2 and T3 groups and eosinophil was found higher in a T3 group than control. Blood glucose, creatinine, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, uric acid, and triglycerides were found similar in all the groups and within the normal values for broiler chicken. Liver enzymes and macro mineral content in blood were found similar in all the treatment groups and within normal physiological range. Although AST was found higher in 10% replacement group than control, the value was within normal range for broiler chicken. Although antibody titer was found similar in all the experimental groups in the present study, cell-mediate immune response (response to PHA-P) was found higher in 5%, 7.5%, and 10% replacement groups than control(p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar blood biochemical parameters and higher cell-mediated immune response in Azolla replacement group indicated immune-modulatory effect of Azolla meal without any toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Deepesh Bharat
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Debashis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Amitav
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Muneendra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Raju
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, U.P. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura - 281001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaswani
keywords: Azolla pinnata; blood biochemicals; hematology; immunocompetence traits