Stress by Immobilization, with Food and Water Deprivation, Causes Changes in Plasma Concentration of Triiodothyronine, Thyroxine and Corticosterone in Poultry

Abstract

Measurements were sought for assessment of stress during investigations of welfare in intensively housed poultry. Immobilization was used as a stressor in experiments involving 64 cockerels of various ages. Two parameters were found to be related to acute stress: plasma triiodothyronine (T 3) concentration, which fell markedly, and plasma corticosterone concentration, which rose consiQerably, in all birds during severe stress. Concurrently, plasma thyroxine (T4) concentration also fell in most, but not all, birds.