Chickens Have A Higher Body Temp Than Cows?

cyclops

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I just read online that chickens have an average body temp of 105-107, while cows only have a temp of 101.5.

I'm wondering why cows have a higher percentage of saturated to unsaturated fat than chickens then, as I thought the percentage of animal's fat was largely due to its internal body temperature... where the warmer-blooded the animal, the higher percentage of its body fat would be saturated.

I guess this is wrong though, so why do chickens have much more unsaturated fat than cows? They kind of seem to live in the same environments/weather?
 

Tenacity

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Something about a cow's internal processing turns PUFA into SFA apparently, but I'm not clear on the details.

An animal's diet has a large effect on its fat composition. Most farm hens eat a lot of soy and corn.
 
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cyclops

cyclops

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An animal's diet has a large effect on its fat composition. Most farm hens eat a lot of soy and corn.

Oh, I should have mentioned Im trying to compare healthy pasture raised, grass-fed, organic animals. I believe even if the cows and chickens are fed their best natural diet, chickens still have much more pufa. Thats why I was surprised they are the warmer animal.
 

Runenight201

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I tried looking it up myself but most of my search results came back with statements about what the body temperatures of various animals were rather than why they were kept at the given temperature and an explanation for their variation across species.

Since birds movements are so rapid, they will have a higher metabolic demand for energy directed towards physical activity, which in turns increases their overall metabolic rate. A higher metabolic rate demands a higher temperature, which accounts for their higher body temperature relative to mammals.

That's my best hypothesis to the question. In terms of saturated vs unsaturated storage of fat in the body, the diet of an animal will determine its make up among a given species, but will he overall genetic lineage of the species determine its natural predisposition between saturated and unsaturated fat? A cold water fish requires unsaturated over saturated fat for survival. What makes the bird require more unsaturated fat compared to cows? Could it really be down to just the diet? If we were to take two pre-agricultural animals, the bird vs the bison; The bird would have eaten plenty of seeds and insects in its diet, while the cow would have eaten grass. I can't imagine these different dietary choices would cause a notable difference in saturated/unsaturated profiles between the different species.
 

tara

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IIRC, most birds have higher body temps than most mammals.
Chicken fat reflects chicken diet.
Ruminant fat reflects what rumen bacteria make of animals' diet.
 
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cyclops

cyclops

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What makes the bird require more unsaturated fat compared to cows? Could it really be down to just the diet? If we were to take two pre-agricultural animals, the bird vs the bison; The bird would have eaten plenty of seeds and insects in its diet, while the cow would have eaten grass. I can't imagine these different dietary choices would cause a notable difference in saturated/unsaturated profiles between the different species.

Yeah this is what I'm wondering too. I basically don't understand why chickens have a (comparably) large percentage of unsaturated fat. I understand why cold water fish would. And then finding out that chickens have a high body temperature as well, it just seemed confusing
 

nigma

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Perhaps it has to do with the fact that birds fly, and flying has a cooling effect on the body. Even though they have feathers for insulation, they would still loose a lot of heat through flight. Ever put your hand out the window while driving on the highway? A higher body temp would resist the heat lost to the environment.

It could also have something to do with being disconnected from the earth's net negative electrical charge, they do not spend as much time as other animals on the surface.
 

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