To avoid
isolation stress, the chicks (24/treatment) were randomly
paired within treatment and housed in identical
cages (30.5 × 30.5 cm) within an environmentally controlled
room. They had ad libitum access to water and
standard feed appropriate for their stage of development
and were kept at a constant 16L:8D photoperiod.
Temperature was initially maintained at 95°F during
the first week, and then lowered by 5°F weekly until
an ambient temperature of 70°F was reached at 5 wk