Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science., Vol. LVI
Written by Tsvetoslav KOYNARSKI, Lilyan SOTIROV
Natural immune factors are the first defense mechanism against variety of pathogenic agents. Both the blood serum lysozyme and alternative pathway of complement activation play significant role in stock animals’ welfare. In this study we decided to investigate the dynamics of the aforementioned humoral factors among two of the most popular broiler chicken hybrids – Ross and Cobb. Both hybrids show relatively high concentrations of blood serum lysozyme during the first week of life (Ross-7,79 and Cobb-11,06 mg/L). Which could be explained by the small amounts of yolk sack, left from the egg embryo. During the second week the levels of blood serum lysozyme lowers dramatically. Through the next weeks the concentration of blood lysozyme increases gradually among both hybrids. The comparative analysis show faster and higher levels in favor of the Ross hybrid. The dynamics of the alternative pathway of complement activation (APCA) were relatively similar. Both hybrids have moderate levels of APCA activity through the first week (Ross- 325,32 CH50 and Cobb – 346,94 CH50), which lowers in the second week of live and grows gradually trough the life of the bird. Compared with the Cobb, the Ross hybrid exhibited higher levels of APCA, which gives these birds better protection against pathogens. Similar results for both factors of interest, were obtained among the hybrids’ parent flocks. The results of our experiment unambiguously show better humoral immunity protection in favor of the Ross hybrid.
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Chicken hybrids
