Abstract: Healthy white-feather silky fowl were chosen to study the effects of cold stress with different intensity（lower 5 ℃ and 10 ℃ than normal temperature）and duration（acute, chronic and acclimation stage）on some biochemical indexes in the blood of silky fowl, including activity of creatine kinase（CK）, lactate dehydrogenase（LDH）, and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase （γ-GT）, glucose and blood urea nitrogen, Ca²⁺ and P. The results showed that at the acute stress phase（within 24 h）, activity of LDH, CK and γ-GT had been significantly alternated at 1 h~2 h after cold stress, and statistics results suggested that intensity and duration of cold stress significantly affected these biochemical indexes in the blood of silky fowl（p<0.05）. Cold stress markedly motivated concentration oscillation of Ca²⁺. The metabolism of sugar and energy supply in white-feather silky fowl strengthened in response to stress stimuli, and the capacity of energy mobilization was increased with the stress intensity. The results indicate that white-feather silky fowl is susceptible to cold stress; LDH and CK activity in serum can be used as indicators of cold stress test for white-feather silky fowl. The results provide basis information for the cold stress research and management of rare birds under stress.

Key words: cold stress, white-feather silky fowl, biochemical index