Response of Broiler Chickens under Dexamethasone Induced Stress Conditions

An experiment was conducted to determine the response of broiler chickens under dexamethasone induced stress conditions. The experiment was conducted using two hundred and forty days old Arbor acre broiler chickens. There were four treatments each having three replicates with twenty birds per replicate. Concentrations of dexamethasone at 0, 1, 2 and 3 mg/ L of water were supplied daily. The experiment lasted 56 days. A decrease (P>0.05) in rectal temperature with an increase (P>0.05) in respiratory rate with increasing dose of dexamethasone was observed. Birds receiving 0 mg dexamethasone had the highest (P<0.05) final body weight, average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Dexamethasone effect on tibia weight, length, weight/length index and robusticity index was significant (P<0.05) with the control group performing better than the dexamethasone groups. It is concluded that dexamethasone-induced stress had negative effects on broilers performance and tibia geometric properties.