Abstract 1. A total of 320 one-day-old Ross male broiler chickens were used to investigate the effects of 00, 25, 50 and 75 g/kg turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) in the diet, on antioxidant status, biochemical gas indices and mortality in broiler chickens with triiodothyronine (T3) induced ascites. 2. The TRP supplementation had no effect on blood pH, pO2 or pCO2 during the whole period of study. Moreover, supplementation of TRP did not influence the heart weight, right ventricle, left ventricle, or total ventricle weights, all relative to total live weight; RV/TV (right ventricle to total ventricle) ratio; or serum GPX (glutathione peroxidase) or SOD (superoxide dismutase) activities at week 6. 3. TRP supplementation influenced the blood HCO 3 and O2 saturation during the whole period of study, total mortality due to ascites, and serum total tocopherol and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. Blood HCO 3 and serum total tocopherol increased linearly as dietary TRP level increased. Blood O2 saturation increased quadratically as dietary TRP increased. 4. Total ascites mortality and serum MDA content decreased linearly with increasing TRP level to 5 mg/kg and then reached a plateau. 5. The results of the study indicate that the addition of 50 g/kg TRP is sufficient to increase the blood O2 saturation and bicarbonate (HCO 3 ) concentration, and reduce the mortality due to ascites and serum MDA content.

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