The comparison of blood characteristics in low- and high-altitude chickens

AbstractTibetan chicken (TC) is a unique chicken breed that has inhabited the Tibetan Plateau for thousands of years and has adapted to the harsh environment of an altitude of over greater than 4000 m. The changes in blood characteristics that occur in high-altitude rearing of TCs are unknown. To obtain a deeper insight into the blood characteristics of chickens in low and high altitudes, we focussed on four chicken populations to compare the variations among them. In the present study, we found significant differences in white blood cell (WBC) count, red blood cell (RBC) count and haematocrit (HCT) values between TCs and other chicken populations. When TCs were reared at low altitude, there was a significant (p < .05) decrease in the WBC, RBC and HCT values compared with the TCs reared at high altitude; however, whether the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) value is related to oxygen transport and hypoxia adaptation requires further study. It is likely that haemoglobin (HGB), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MC...