Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is highly contagious disease which easily lead to immunosuppression and a decreased response to vaccinations in young chicken. Since dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial to induce immunity and their maturation and functions are influenced by microbial and environmental stimuli, we investigated the effects of inactivated IBDV and IBDV on chicken DC activation and maturation. Chicken bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (chBM-DCs) cultured in complete medium (including recombinant chicken: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin 4) expressed high levels of MHC-II and the putative CD11c. After LPS or virus stimulation, chBM-DCs displayed the typical morphology of DCs. In addition, stimulation by LPS or viruses significantly elevated chBM-DCs surface expression levels of CD40 and CD86 molecules, as well as the ability to induce T-cell proliferative response, compared to the non-stimulated chBM-DCs. Interestingly, inactive IBDV showed stronger ability to up-regulate expression levels of CD40 and CD86 molecules and stimulate naive T cells proliferation than live IBDV. These results revealed that live viruses infection impaired DC maturation and functions, probably explaining why chickens infected with IBDV fails to trigger an effective specific immune response or develop immune memory.