Effect of Natural Vitamin C on Performance and Certain Haemato-Biochemical Values in Broiler Chickens Exposed to Heat Stress

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Abstract
During hot climates, the supplementation of extra electrolytes or vitamins such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to the drinking water or feed of poultry has become a common practice. Broilers are more susceptible to heat stress as compared to other animals. The current experiment was conducted to examine the effect of commercial vitamin C supplement (VC100, 200 mg/kg), on performance of broilers. Two levels of environmental temperatures: normal (22°C) and high (32°C) and two levels of vitamin C in drinking water (with and without) were arranged in a factorial arrangement resulted in four dietary treatments for the period from 15 to 30 days of age. Results revealed a significant two way interaction for body weight gain (BW) and feed intake (FI) (P<0.01) for the first week of the trial (15-22 day). The effect of treatment in the second week (23-30 day) was less pronounced and treatment had no effect on performance. Cumulative performance results for the period (15-30 day) showed that feed intake was affected by temperature (P<0.05). It can be concluded that natural vitamin C 100 has no a major impact on cumulative performance or plasma mineral status.