In chickens, adrenal corticosteroids are
secreted shortly after exposure to stress (Siegel,
1980) and elevated plasma corticosterone concentration has been used as an index of the
response to stress in poultry ).
Heat stress, for example, stimulates the release of
corticosterone from the adrenal gland (Edens,
1978) and increases its plasma concentration
in chickens, turkeys and pigeons