Rectal temperature and behaviour of layer hens administered with vitamins C and E and transported during the hot-dry season

A 6 hours experiment involving 90 apparently healthy Shika Brown layer hens of twenty-two weeks age and an average live weight of 1.1 ± 0.2 kg was carried out in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of vitamins C and E on rectal temperature (RT) and behaviour of the birds transported by road during the hot-dry season. Two experimental groups consisting of thirty layers each were separately administered orally with vitamins C and E just before transportation, while another 30 layers given sterile water only served as control. At journey time the RT was higher (p 0.05) difference in the vitamin E group. When pre- and post-transportation values were compared, the behavioural activities of tonic immobility (TI), regrouping and awareness tests were non-significant (p>0.05) in treatment groups, but control showed significant (p<0.01) difference for TI, and (p<0.05) for regrouping and awareness tests, respectively. In conclusion, vitamins C and E ameliorated the negative psycho-physiological effect of heat stress in transported birds.