AN OVERVIEW OF VITAMIN C AS AN ANTISTRESS IN POULTRY
S. Stress is commonly used to describe the detrimental effects of a variety of conditions surrounding animals on their health performance. Environmental stress causes an increase in oxidative stress and an imbalance in antioxidant status. Oxidative damage increases in stressed poultry when the plasma antioxidant vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, E, folic acid, and zinc levels declined. Stress factors in birds involve many elements of the transport processes which may be detrimental to the birds. These factors include alteration in atmospheric temperature, poor handling by man, removal of feed and water (starvation) high ambient temperature (AT) and relative humidity (RH) Other factors incude vaccination, disease conditions such as coccidiosis, novelty, confinement, motion, noise, microthermal core within the vehicle and the use of inappropriate vehicles. Live birds of all ages are being transported mainly by roads to their various destinations and across different ecological zones throughout the year. Mortality increases with journey length. The adverse effects of these factors and their combinations may range from mild discomfort and aversion to death. This review was aimed at providing comprehensive information on the role of vitamin C in combating stress factors in poultry with the view of exploring its potentials for future research undertaking. Information compiled in this review were obtained from search engines such as Elsevier, Pubmed, Springer, Medline, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and a library search for articles published in peerreviewed journals. 100 to 200 mg/kg feed of vitamin C is capable of converting stress factors in poultry and thereby improving