The relationship between hematological values and Newcastle disease immunity of
Thai indigenous chicken was studied in strain Leung Hang Khao which attractive to consumers
in Thailand. The blood and serum samples were collected from 153 chickens of this strain
(mixed sex: male = 70, female = 83) at 4 and 7 months of age raising in free-range condition.
Hematological value of the strain Leung Hang Khao at 4 month of age showed the mean
corpuscular volume (MCV) in male (126.80±0.51 fl.) was statistically significant (p<0.05)
higher than in female (123.30±0.46 fl.). While, the total red blood cell (TRBC), hemoglobin
(HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular
hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total white blood cell count (TWBC), heterophil,
lymphocyte, monocyte and H:L ratio were no statistically significant (p>0.05) between sexes at
7 month of age. The average titers were no statistically significant (p>0.05) between sex at 4
month (male: 806.40±97.70 and female: 756.70±87.65) and 7 month (male: 5,372±799.08 and
female: 6,561±709.28) of age, respectively. In addition, the hematological values of this strain
at 4 month of age was relative to Newcastle disease immunity. The titer was statistically
significant (p<0.05) correlation with the hematological value. The titers with the low, medium
and high levels of immunity (63.15±23.47, 421.77±28.04 and 1525±131.92, respectively) were
negative relationship with lymphocyte (71.00±2.46, 69.79±0.81 and 67.72±1.29 percentages of
white blood cell (WBC), respectively) but statistically significant positive (p<0.05) relationship
with heterophil (25.17±2.34, 27.76±0.86 and 29.41±1.05 percentages of WBC, respectively).
The relationship between the amounts of lymphocyte and heterophil, and Newcastle disease
immunity were indicated with the coefficients of phenotypic correlation of -0.17 and 0.18,
respectively. From these results showed that, the relationship between hematological values and
Newcastle disease immunity could be used as a primary health assessment Newcastle disease
index for Thai indigenous chicken strain Leung Hang Khao.