Changes in the haematological values of avian blood samples stored at varying temperatures for a period of up to 72 hours

Abstract

Avian blood samples collected from remotely located farms may not always reach the laboratory for analysis immediately upon collection. This study investigated the changes that occur in the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (HbC), red blood cell (RBC) counts, mean corpuscular values and white blood cell (WBC) counts of avian blood samples stored at refrigerator (4°C), room (average of 29°C) and incubator (37°C) temperatures across a storage period of 72 h. Blood samples for the study were collected from 12 adult chickens. All haematological determinations were carried out on the blood samples individually immediately upon collection to obtain the baseline value (BV) and thereafter at specific time intervals across the 72-h duration of storage (DOS). Results showed that for the samples stored at 4°C, there were no significant changes (p > 0.05) from the BV in the PCV, HbC, RBC counts, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular HbC (MCHC) all through the 72-h DOS, but the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) significantly increased (p 0.05) from the BV in the HbC, RBC counts and MCH all through the 72-h DOS, but PCV and MCV significantly increased (p < 0.01) from their BV after 18 and 12-h DOS, respectively, while MCHC and WBC counts significantly decreased (p < 0.01) from their BV after 12 and 18-h DOS, respectively. For the samples kept at 37°C, there were significant changes (p < 0.01) from the BV in the MCHC after 9-h DOS, MCV after 12-h DOS, PCV and WBC counts after 18-h DOS, HbC and RBC counts after 48-h DOS and MCH after 60-h DOS. All changes in PCV, MCV and MCH were directly correlated with DOS, while the changes in HbC, RBC counts, MCHC and WBC counts were inversely correlated with the DOS. It was concluded that for avian blood samples stored at 4°C, reliable results (results not significantly different from the BV) can be obtained for the PCV, HbC, RBC counts, MCH and MCHC for up to 72-h DOS and for MCV and WBC counts for up to 30-h DOS; while for samples stored at 29°C, reliable results for HbC, RBC counts and MCH can be obtained for up to 72-h DOS and for MCV and MCHC for up to 12-h DOS but for PCV and WBC counts for up to 18-h DOS. Samples kept at 37°C can give reliable MCHC for up to 9-h DOS, MCV for up to 12-h DOS, PCV and WBC counts for up to 18-h DOS, HbC and RBC counts for up to 48-h DOS and MCH for up to 60-h DOS.