The objective of this work was to investigate the development of ascites in broilers from Hubbard and Naked-neck strains based on the change in blood viscosity. The broilers were reared up to 45 days of age at different environmental temperatures (thermoneutral or cold) and fed pelleted diets with high energy content. At 28 and 45 days, blood samples were obtained to measure the apparent blood viscosity, using a viscosimeter of concentric cylinders, and hematocrit. The results showed that at 28 days of age, some occurrence of ascites was verified in Hubbard birds living in the cold environment, but at 45 days of age all the birds reared at cold temperature had developed ascites. The Naked-neck broilers were resistant to the development of ascites at all ages and environmental temperatures. The analysis of blood apparent viscosity revealed that in birds having values similar or higher than 4 cP (centipoise) were ascitics. In conclusion, the findings of this work suggest that 4 cP of blood apparent viscosity seems to be a threshold for detecting ascites development in commercial broiler strain.
ascites; blood; viscosity; Hubbard; Naked-neck
