This ABL-80 Co-ox Flex blood gas electrolyte
analyzer was set to reflect a broiler body temperature
of 41.5◦C as per to the manufacturer’s instructions. The
mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (McHc)
in grams per deciliter was calculated using the standard
formula [(Hb × 100)/Hct]. Also, sO2, which the amount
of oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb) in blood expressed as a percent
of the total amount of hemoglobin able to bind
oxygen (O2Hb) + deoxyhemoglobin was calculated using
the standard formula [sO2 = 100 × O2Hb/(O2Hb
+ deoxyhemoglobin)]. The needle mounted on each
monovette syringe was then removed, a cap was placed
over the needle port, and the syringes containing the
blood samples were plunged into ice. After all birds
were bled, the iced samples were transferred to the laboratory
and centrifuged at 4,000 × g for 20 min at 4◦C.
Two mL of each of the plasma samples from the syringes
were stored in 2.5-mL graduated tubes at −20◦C
for later chemical analyses.