Current data regarding the evolution of hematological profile in Broiler chickens: a review

Abstract

In the last decades, along with the progress of poultry farming, avian medicine has seen remarkable progress. The use of improved breeds has raised the issue of their increased susceptibility to pathological factors and environmental conditions. Currently, the detection of diseases in birds, especially in poultry, is based on serological and necropsy investigations; complementary laboratory investigations, such as hematological and biochemical, are only used in companion birds. The assessment of the health of poultry through hematological and biochemical tests, especially those from intensive breeding farms, allows the early detection of signs of disease before it causes mortality and implicitly economic loss. Chickens were used as an animal model of research to establish physiological parameters for other avian species. However, little information has been published on the evolution of their hematological and biochemical parameters. Furthermore, the establishment of reference intervals for interpretation of results in birds in general and chickens in particular has proved extremely difficult due to their hematological and biochemical features. Hematology in birds partly mirrors health status can vary due to race, age, gender, stress, bacterial and viral infections. Considering the complexity of the animal organism and the complex interrelation established between its different systems, the administration of an exogenous substance will cause complex reactions.