Fig 1.
Effects of high altitude hypoxia on the birth weight and body weight of AACs and TBCs.
(A) Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the birth weight of AACs and TBCs (n = 12). (B) Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the body weight of AACs and TBCs (n = 8). The data are expressed as the mean±SD. *p<0.05, normoxia group vs. hypoxia group. BW, body weight.
Fig 2.
Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the overall performance of AACs and TBCs (n = 4 cages).
The value for the red line as the reference in this figure is 2. The data are expressed as the mean±SD. *p<0.05, normoxia group vs. hypoxia group.
Fig 3.
Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the mortality rate of AACs and TBCs.
χ2 analysis was performed on the number of chickens who died throughout the experiment.
Fig 4.
Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the blood parameters of AACs and TBCs (n = 4).
The data are expressed as the mean±SEM. *p<0.05, normoxia group vs. hypoxia group. RBCs, red blood cells; Hb, hemoglobin; Hct, hematocrit.
Fig 5.
Effect of high altitude hypoxia on the morphology of the growth plates in AACs and TBCs.
The enlarged growth plates in the hypoxia group were compared with normoxia group. AC, articular cartilage; GP, growth plate.
Fig 6.
Histological examinations of the growth plates in both AACs and TBCs at high altitude.
Obvious increase in the density of the metaphyseal blood vessels on day 14 in the hypoxia group compared to the normoxia group. The arrows indicate blood vessels. BV, blood vessels. Scale bar = 500 μm.