Effects of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) as a drinking water supplement during cyclical chronic heat stress on broiler chickens: Assessing algal composition, production, stress, health and immune-biochemical indices

Abstract Spirulina, the blue green algae is considered to exhibit multifaceted benefits on both human health and animal production. A six weeks study was conducted on white broilers (N = 360) categorized in to five treatment groups each comprising nine replicates of 8 chicks. The experiment was carried out during the hot humid summer season (Mid-April to May) under deep litter rearing system with uniform managemental conditions. Birds were administered orally with spirulina through drinking water (DW) in the morning (06:00–12:00 PM) at 5, 10, 15 and 20 g/L concentration. Spirulina supplementation neither improved nor compromised production performance of broilers reared during hot climatic condition. One way ANOVA results indicated a significant (P