author(s)
Kailash Kumar, Aditya Mishra, Amir Amin Sheikh, Pragati Patel and Rakshanda Bhagat

abstract
The present work was conducted to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on plasma heat shock protein 70 and certain production parameters during heat stress in commercial broilers. A total number of 96 birds were randomly divided into 4 groups and each group consist of 12 birds in two replicates. Work was done in two conditions, heat and comfort. Heat stressed groups were maintained at 37±5.0 °C ambience whereas Comfort groups were maintained at 26±1.0 °C. G1 was taken as control whereas G2, G3 and G4 were supplemented with 100 mg, 200 mg and 300 mg of ascorbic acid respectively. The overall mean concentration of plasma HSP70 showed non-significant difference between comfort and heat stressed broilers in all the groups. However, a significantly (p<0.05) higher concentration of HSP70 were observed in control group of comfort condition as compared to treatment groups. In both comfort and heat stressed condition, significantly higher (P<0.05) body weight gain, total feed intake (g), feed efficiency ratio (FER) and performance index (PI) was observed in G3 group of broilers. In the present investigation, supplementation of ascorbic acid significantly reduces plasma HSP70, which provide an indication that ascorbic acid may be useful in combating rigors of heat stress in chickens.