Thus, in the whole trial, feed intake ( P = 0.001) was higher in chickens kept under standard conditions compared to those kept under heat stress, whereas differences in daily weight gain only showed a trend ( P = 0.060) and feed conversion ratio was not affected ( Table 4 ).
The decreased WB occurrence (at a level approaching significance) in chickens fed C6 diet compared to those fed the other diets has to be attributed to the lower growth rate and breast weight of the former chickens compared to the latter ones ( Bordignon et al., 2022 ) rather than to a possible functional role played by the microalgae.