Impact of chromium-methionine supplementation on decreasing deleterious effects of physiological stress in broilers

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of chromium-methionine (Cr-Met) supplementation on the blood and immune parameters of broiler under acute stress. A total of one hundred twenty six broilers were allocated to 3 treatments and 3 replicates (14 birds per replicate) in a completely randomized design. Treatments were: 1) negative control: i.e. basal diet without stress and Cr-Met, 2) positive control: basal diet with stress and without Cr-Met, 3) basal diet with stress and supplemented with 1000 ppb Cr-Met. Stress was induced from day 18 by addition of 1.5 mg dexamethasone per kg of the diet for one week followed by a withdrawal period until day 46. Blood samples were collected on day 25 and 46 of age. Results showed that stress increased blood glucose and lipid concentrations of serum (P