Factors influencing the agreement between thermal physiology measurements and field performance in poultry
MacLeod, M.G.
Archiv für Experimentelle Veterinarmedizin 38(3): 399-410
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9055 PMID: 6385905 Document Number: 221226
Response-modifying physical and biological factors other than instantaneous environmental conditions must be taken into account in defining the physiological and production responses of poultry to the thermal environment. Some of the more influential of these factors are discussed: acclimatization; short-term and long-term effects of food intake; circadian variation both in the environment and in responses to it; locomotor activity; feather insulation; social interaction and behavioural thermoregulation; degree of confinement; genetic differences. A number of these "modifying" factors may indeed rival the quantitative importance of the primary factors under investigation. Taking such variables into account should enhance the predictive value of any model relating physiological laboratory measurements to field performance.