Effect of Physical Form of Diet on Growth Performance and Immune Responses of Broilers under Stress Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride

This study was conducted to examine the effects of physical form of diet on humoral and cellular immune responses in broiler chickens exposed to carbon tetrachloride stress in days 10 to 42 of age. The 2×3 factorial experiment performed in a randomized complete block design with 468 broilers in 6 treatments and 6 replicates of 13 birds each. The treatments consisted combinations of a grower diet in three physical form (mash, pellet and crumble) and injection of carbon tetrachloride (0 and 0.5 ml/kg of body weight). Birds fed with mash diet consumed greater feed and broilers fed with the same diet in crumble form had the lowest feed intake (P<0.05). The injection of carbon tetrachloride in broilers decreased lymphocytes (P<0.05). Greater percentage of monocytes and neutrophils were observed in the birds injected with carbon tetrachloride (P<0.05). Carbon tetrachloride injection resulted in a significant decrease in antibody titer against influenza at 42 days of age (P<0.05). It was concluded that carbon tetrachloride poisoning independent of diet physical form, may impress immune response in broiler chicken due to reduced lymphocytes.