Body composition and atherosclerosis in cocks after long exposure to heat and cold

¹ Nutrition and Physiology Laboratories, Department of Animal Sciences, Rutgers—The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Three groups of adult cocks were exposed respectively to 2, 21, and 32 C temperatures for a 15-month experimental period. Food consumption, body weight, body composition, feather composition and weight, atherosclerosis and fatty acid composition of plasma, liver and depot fat were studied. It was found that with the use of a pelleted diet the cold-exposed cocks maintained the same body weight as the control group (21 C). The heat-exposed birds were lighter in weight than either controls or cold-exposed and had significantly less body fat and water. Severity of atherosclerosis was not affected in the cold-exposed cocks, despite greatly increased caloric intake. The liver fat of the cold-exposed cocks was significantly higher in di- and hexaenoic acids than that of the controls or heat-exposed birds. The depot fat of heat-exposed birds was lower in monoenoic and higher in dienoic acid than that of controls or cold-exposed birds. The cold-exposed cocks also had significantly more feathers and feather lipid than the other two groups.

Submitted on November 23, 1964