Zinc's Role in Protecting Chicken Guts from Heat Stress

Heat stress is a big problem for chickens, especially their guts. Scientists wanted to see if zinc could help. They did two experiments using tiny pieces of chicken intestines, called organoids. In the first experiment, they put these organoids in different temperatures. One group was at normal temperature, and the other was at a high temperature. They checked the organoids at different times to see how heat affected them. After 12 hours, the organoids showed signs of damage. They found more of certain enzymes and chemicals that show damage. In the second experiment, they added zinc to see if it could help. They used two types of zinc: zinc proteinate and zinc sulfate. They found that zinc, especially zinc proteinate, helped protect the organoids from heat damage. It helped them stay intact and function better. The scientists also looked at how zinc works. They found that zinc helps certain pathways in the cells that make them grow and stay healthy. These pathways are like roads that help messages get to different parts of the cell. Zinc helps keep these roads open and working. So, zinc can help protect chicken guts from heat stress. It does this by helping cells grow and stay healthy. This is important because heat stress is a big problem for chickens, and zinc might be a simple way to help.