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Experiments to determine the calcium and phosphorus requirement of the growing chick were begun at this laboratory in the spring of 1927. Four different experiments have been conducted since then two of which were of a preliminary nature and are not reported in this paper. In the meantime, experimental results on this problem have been reported by Bethke 1, 2, Buckner3, 4, 5, Mussehl6, 7, Massengale8 and Hart9 and their associates. In many of these reports, however, emphasis has been laid upon the calcium-phosphorus ratio rather than upon the quantitative requirement for these minerals. From the data of these investigators as well as from the results obtained at this laboratory, it is now possible to draw general conclusions of practical value concerning the quantitative requirement of the chick for calcium and phosphorus and the effect of variations in the calcium-phosphorus ratio on this reqnirement. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Ten pens, each containing . . .

THE importance of green feed in the diet of poultry has been under discussion for many years. Most of the experimental work on this subject has been limited to testing the effect of the type of crop and the method of its preservation on laying hens. Only a limited amount of work has been done with growing chicks, and that work has been concerned largely with the subsequent production of the birds rather than with the growth of the chicks. A few reports have been made on the value of silage for laying hens, but no tests have been carried out to determine the value of this product for the growing chick. The work described in this paper was planned to determine whether green feed furnished some factor or factors necessary for the chick which could not be supplied readily by other commonly used feeds and especially to determine the . . .

In a previous report of investigations concerning consumption of scratch grain in the egg laying contests in New Jersey, 2 Ralston R. Hannas has expressed the opinion that experience in contest feeding indicates that in general practice, even with heavy feeding of grain in the early fall, sufficient amounts have not been fed to keep the birds in good condition so they will hold up in production during the summer. Evidence presented in this paper throws additional light upon the importance of heavy grain feeding during the four winter months, November–February, in comparison with the spring and summer-fall periods. The following table summarizes the data for the three seasons investigated : November–February March–June July–October Winter Spring Summer-Fall Mean production Eggs per bird weekly 2.20 4.57 3.06 Eggs per 100 birds daily 31.43 65.28 43.71 Mean Scratch Grain Consumption Pounds per bird weekly .80 .70 .46 Pounds per 100 birds daily 11.43 10.00 6.57

IN 1948 a study was begun to ascertain, among other things, the effects of sire differences, dam differences, and date-of-hatch differences on variation in growth of standard-bred Single Comb White Leghorn pullets from hatching to 12 weeks of age. Three general methods for evaluating growth of an individual animal have been used: (1) cumulative weights, (2) successive gains (specific rates of growth), and (3) relative rates of growth (some transformation of weight or gain, usually logarithmic). There is a considerable amount of literature dealing with the advantages of one method over another in graphic and statistical studies of growth of populations as well as individuals. However, in this paper interest is centered on specific rate of growth because successive gains are additive without the necessity of a logarithmic transformation. While it is known that environmental factors such as temperature and ration affect growth (Moulton, Kempster, Hogan and Brody, 1923), few . . .

DRESSING percentages of food animals are of considerable economic importance to the producers, distributors, and consumers of them. This paper is a compilation of original data relating to the determination of weight losses sustained by turkeys during their preparation for cooking. The data were obtained from more than twelve hundred birds of the Bronze variety. The birds were raised and prepared for market on the U. S. Range Livestock Experiment Station at Miles City, Montana, during the years of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932. The turkeys used in this study were reared on limited range with access to feed at all times from hatching to marketing. The young birds were slaughtered, in the great majority of cases, between the ages of 26 and 32 weeks, during November and December. A few were slaughtered at 22 to 26 weeks of age, during November and December. A few were held as long . . .

THE report of Heywang (1944) shows that the hatchability of their eggs is lowered when chickens are kept under high environmental temperatures. However, it does not seem that the extremely poor hatches obtained, at least occasionally, during hot weather at some commercial hatcheries are attributable solely to the high environmental temperatures of the breeding stock that produced the eggs. Rather, it seems probable that the eggs are not properly cared for from the time they are laid until they are put in the incubator. The date of Heywang (loc. cit.) were obtained on eggs that had been given good care prior to incubation; they were removed from the nests at hourly intervals and then stored at 55 degrees F. for not more than seven days before being incubated. The study discussed in this paper was undertaken to determine how hatchability is affected during hot weather when eggs are not gathered . . .

It is a common opinion of poultrymen that large eggs produce large chicks and that large chicks are stronger and grow more rapidly than others. There has been some evidence presented to show that the larger eggs produce heavier chicks at hatching-time, but the author has been unable to find any reference to a study of the relationship of chick weight at hatching to subsequent rate of growth. The purpose of this paper is to aid in determining whether or not heavier eggs produce heavier chicks at hatching time and whether or not heavier chicks grow more rapidly than those that are lighter in weight when hatched. The work of Halbersleben and Mussehl1 (1922) revealed that the heavier eggs produced the heavier chicks. The weight of the chicks averaged to be 64.9% of that of the eggs from which they were hatched when brown eggs were considered. Jull and Quinn2 . . .

STUDIES on zinc in the nutrition of the chick by Edwards, Young and Gillis (1958) have shown that the chick can obtain small quantities of zinc from feed and water and zinc-galvanized materials. Zinc may be obtained from the latter either by direct contact or by contamination of the feed and water from these materials. This paper is a report on the study of the chicks’ requirement for zinc under carefully controlled experimental conditions where special precautions were taken to isolate the chicks from any environmental zinc. Although O’Dell and Savage (1957) and Edwards et al. (1958) have described the general symptoms of a zinc deficiency in chicks, the severe zinc deficiency symptoms encountered in this study are described in detail and illustrated. EXPERIMENTAL Single Comb White Leghorn cockerels were used in all experiments. In five experiments, the chicks were housed in plastic cages with stainless steel tops. Five chicks . . .

This paper presents data on the early growth of nine lots of White Leghorn chicks, hatched at different seasons of the year and used as “control” pens in a series of nutrition experiments conducted at the U. S. Animal Husbandry Experiment Farm, Beltsville, Maryland. The analysis of the data was made primarily for the purpose of obtaining an estimate of the average growth made by White Leghorn chicks between the time of hatching and various ages up to 15 weeks under the conditions imposed by the above-mentioned series of nutrition experiments. It was hoped that the analysis would show the degree of variability in growth made by different lots of chicks, hatched at different seasons of the year and reared under similar conditions. Although the conditions were not strictly comparable, the writers believe that they were similar enough to justify the use of the data in such an analysis. The . . .

AMPROLIUM (Figure 1) is a relatively weak thiamine antagonist (Rogers, 1962) which has been shown to be an effective coccidiostat and a safe additive for use in poultry feed (Ott et al., 1962). In the studies on thiamine antagonists, a quantitative assay in chicks was used to determine the antithiamine potency of the various compounds. This paper is a report of the chick assay procedure employed in these studies and its application to amprolium, oxythiamine and pyrithiamine. EXPERIMENTAL Day-old Single Comb White Leghornl cockerels from a commercial hatchery weree reared in electrically-heated, metal, wire-floored battery brooders in temperature-controlled rooms provided with 14 hours daily of artificial illumination. For the first 3 days the chicks were fed a complete practical-type diet or a commercial starter ration. For the next 3 days a thiamine-deficient, purified-type diet (Table 1) was fed. The chicks were then weighed and those in the middle two-thirds of…

THE immediate objective of the exploratory tests described here was to determine the effects of sustained low barometric pressures and of rapid changes in barometric pressures on the survival of day-old chicks. Some tests were also made at different temperature ranges, but due to time and other limitations under which the work was carried out, no proper analysis of the role of this factor could be attempted. There is little in the literature on the type of test described here. The papers by Rostorfer and Rigdon (1947), Britton and Kline (1945), and Stullken and Hiestand (1943) should, however, be mentioned as well as unpublished observations on birds made available to us by Dr. Paul D. Altland. SOURCE OF CHICKS Day-old, non-sexed Rhode Island Red chicks hatched at Beltsville were used in all runs except test 9 (Table 1); the exceptional chicks were 2 days of age at the beginning of . . .

THIS paper reports the results of a series of experiments on the freezing of chicken with an over-all objective of discovering the effects of freezing and storage on palatability. 1. EFFECT OF TIME AND TEMPERATURE ON PALATABILITY Materials and General Procedure The poultry used in most of the experiments were one-year-old Barred Plymouth Rock hens from a flock raised at the Poultry Department. These hens were laying and were fat. In addition some birds were used at the fryer stage. Two or three birds constituted an experimental unit and a total of 193 birds was used. The birds were killed and dressed at the Poultry Department from May 7–9, 1946. Each day’s kill was refrigerated at 32°F. overnight at the Department of Horticulture and processed there the next day. Birds cooked before freezing were eviscerated in the morning, cooked in the afternoon, cooled overnight at 45°F., and packaged and …

IN THE first paper (Asmundson and Biely, 1932) of this series, results were presented on the growth to eight weeks of chicks on different fish meals. In that series of experiments, it was found that chicks fed rations supplemented with salmon and pilchard meal weighed just as much at eight weeks as did chicks receiving an equal amount of protein from milk. There was some indication, however, that pilchard meals varied in quality. This was indicated by differences in the average weight at eight weeks of two groups of chicks fed different pilchard meals. The present series was started to determine whether there was any consistent difference in the rate of growth of chicks to eight weeks when fed samples of pilchard meals from different reduction plants. The pilchard meals were obtained during the 1931 fishing season from reduction plants † situated at Ecoole, Matilda Creek, and Nootka on the west . . .

THE details of a successful intravaginal procedure for the artificial insemination of Japanese quail were presented in a previous paper (Marks and Lepore, 1965a). Application of the procedure resulted in the laying of fertile eggs by 83 percent of the inseminated hens. The fertility of total eggs obtained during the 7 day test period averaged 56 percent and ranged from 45 to 73 percent. It was further noted that the presence of a hard-shelled egg in the uterus did not have an adverse effect upon fertility levels. The current study was conducted to obtain additional information about factors influencing the effectiveness of intravaginal insemination in quail. The variables tested included frequency and time of insemination, semen dosage, and semen dilution with and without antibiotics. EXPERIMENTAL Six series of tests were conducted which entailed the examination of approximately 3,000 eggs from 550 inseminated quail hens. For these tests, the quail were …

THE effects of thyroidectomy on the structure and pigmentation of the plumage and on the rate of growth and fat deposition in fowls have been well defined by a number of researches (Greenwood and Blyth, 1929; Schwarz, 1930; Lektorsky and Kusmina, 1935; Parkes and Selye, 1937; Greenwood and Chu, 1939). Comparatively little was known, however, concerning the function of the thyroid gland in egg formation at the time the work reported in this paper was initiated. Only a single case of thyroidectomy by Lanz (1904), where the hen laid one abnormal 5 gram egg following the operation, was available. Ewald and Rockwell (1890) obtained no evidence that thyroidectomized pigeons were abnormal in any way. Since then, Greenwood and Chu (1939) have reported that thyroidectomy of growing pullets did not affect the age of sexual maturity of several operated birds as compared with the average age at first egg of the . . .

THE results of an experiment on selection for shank length in a flock of Single Comb White Leghorn pullets were previously reported by the writer (Lerner, 1943 and 1944). By using progeny-testing methods it has been possible to increase the shank length of 8-9 months old pullets with a concurrent increase in body weight. The fourth selected generation, considered in the present paper, had an average shank length of 10.29 cm., as compared to 9.46 cm. for the unselected controls. The December body weights of March and April hatched pullets were 1,903 and 1,666 grams for the size line and the controls respectively. The primary criterion of selection of what may be designated as the “size” line was shank length, but some effort was made to maintain the production qualities of the original stock, by rejecting as breeders any birds not sexually mature at 200 days of age. The control . . .

OBSERVATIONS were made by Edwards et al. (1960) on the growth rate and requirement for magnesium, zinc, and methionine when birds were grown in clean and unclean environments. Their experiments showed that chickens grown in a room immediately after it had been cleaned and fumigated grew at a much faster rate than chicks that were grown in the same room with older chicks present from the start of the experiment. The data also suggest that the requirements of the chick for magnesium and zinc may be higher when the chicks are grown in contaminated quarters as compared to chicks grown in fumigated quarters. The studies reported in this paper were conducted to obtain additional information on this point. The experiments were specifically designed to answer the following questions: (1) Can very clean isolation rooms be used to simulate the effect of both fumigated and contaminated quarters when proper treatment is …

IT IS well known that the rate of egg production in the domestic fowl may be stimulated temporarily during seasons of normally short daylight periods by increasing the length of the daylight period with artificial light. Such stimulation is usually followed by a decline in egg production below the normal rate. Payne and Simmons (1934) presented an excellent paper on this subject and reviewed the literature to that date. Whetham (1933) showed that rate of egg production increases during seasons of increasing daylight in widely separated latitudes. Decline in rate of production begins before maximum daylight period is reached, however. The relationship of light to the ovulation cycle in the fowl is less well understood. Atwood (1929) showed that successive eggs in a clutch are usually laid at successively later hours in the day. An egg laid after 2 p.m. under natural day and night conditions is usually followed by . . .

IN AN attempt to relate the quality of eggs to their chemical composition, eggs of high and low albumen quality were assayed comparatively for their content of certain vitamins. Procedures for the selection and handling of samples are detailed in the previous paper, as is also the uniform procedure for digestion and extraction of subsamples for microbiological assays. Nicotinic acid was determined by the method of Krehl, Strong and Elvehjem (1943), using Lactobacillus arabinosus 17-5 as the test organism. Apparent * folic acid and apparent* pyridoxine were measured with Streptococcus faecalis, by modifications, of the methods of Luckey, Briggs and Elvehjem (1944) and of Snell, Guirard and Williams (1942), respectively. In all microbiological assays folic acid added was the pure synthetic material. † Carotene was determined colorimetrically in a washed, dried petroleum ether extract of the saponified yolk samples. Vitamin A was measured colorimetrically also, following addition of the Carr-Price (1926) reagent . . .

THE mature White Leghorn pullet responds to low light intensities (such as 0.5 or 1.0 foot candle) just as well as to more than 30 foot candles (Roberts and Carver, 1941; Nicholas, Callenbach, and Murphy, 1944). Turkey hens, like chickens, will start egg production earlier if artificial light is used to lengthen the day (Albright and Thompson, 1933; Scott and Payne, 1937; Charles Wilcox, Flagg and Tepper, 1938; Wilcke, 1939). Until now, apparently, no one has determined the effect of different light intensities upon the onset of ovulation in turkeys. The present paper reports data on this problem and on the response of genetically early- and late-maturing birds to artificial lengthening of the day. The need for such information became apparent in 1942 and subsequent years, when the enforced use of dim lights resulted in a less positive response (delay in starting to lay and a consequently lower initial rate . . .

INTEREST in the biological significance of tetramisole in poultry was stimulated when this product at 40 mg./kg. body weight in a single oral administration was found to have a 96–100% anthelmintic effect against adult and immature Ascaridia (intestinal roundworm), Heterakis (cecal roundworm) and Capillaria (Thienpont et al., 1966). In a previous paper (Marsboom and Thienpont, 1966) it was stated that a single or repeated administration of tetramisole to chicks had no effect on mortality, growth rate and feed efficiency. This report is concerned with analysis for tetramisole in organs, tissues and eggs of treated chicks. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three hundred and twenty male broiler type chicks were supplied from a commercial hatchery as one day old chicks. They were raised in electrically heated batteries and transferred to finishing batteries at the age of two weeks. They were divided into 4 equivalent weight groups of 80 birds and randomly assigned …

THE retention of radiocalcium or radiostrontium in bones of humans (Spencer et al., 1961), rats (Cohn et al., 1961) and non-laying pullets (Hurwitz, 1965a), following a single intravenous dose, is reduced by the feeding of high-calcium diets. However, in the laying hen, the severe calcium depletion from bone during calcium restriction (Taylor and Moore, 1954; Hurwitz and Griminger, 1961) would suggest the possibility of reducing the body burden of bone-seeking radiosotopes by calcium restriction. It was the purpose of the present study to investigate the effects of variation in dietary calcium level and sources, and the timing of this variation, on the retention of calcium-45 and strontium-85 in various bone segments, and the deposition of these nuclides in the egg shell. METHODS AND RESULTS General procedure: The method for preparation of samples for analysis was given in detail in the preceding paper (Hurwitz and Bar, 1966). For calcium-45 determinations, calcium …

THE utilization of feed by growing chickens is a subject of considerable economic importance as well as of general scientific interest. The daily feed intake of a growing chicken must serve a variety of needs; only a portion of the total feed eaten is available for producing a gain in live weight. A study of the utilization of that portion of the feed intake which remains to be used for growth, after the requirements for other metabolic processes have been satisfied, should be of much help in devising suitable diets for growing chickens. In a recent paper the authors (1931) suggested that the curve of the diminishing increment might be useful in making a preliminary study of this problem. The differential form of the equation of the curve of the diminishing increment was written: dW dF = C − mW in which the constant, C, was interpreted to represent the gain in live weight which the . . .

IN A recent communication (Ott, Boucher, and Knandel, 1942) the performance of Single Comb White Leghorns was reported for the first 24 weeks of age on two experiments in which four all-mash rations varying in feeding-cane molasses content were fed in duplicate from 1 day to 72 weeks of age. The present paper is a report of the performance of these fowls during the laying periods in these experiments. Previous investigators have reported various results with laying hens fed rations containing cane molasses. Winter (1929), in a six-month trial starting with 240 Leghorn hens and a year trial starting with 60 Leghorn pullets, reported nearly equal feed intake and egg production, lower mortality, and higher water intake with rations containing 5, 10, or 15 percent molasses than with rations containing no molasses. In one 20-week test starting with 100 Leghorns, Maw (1933) noted nearly equal feed intake and change in . . .

SEVERAL factors related to egg quality such as egg size, shell thickness, amount of thick albumen and number of blood spots are known to have a heritable basis. Because of this, many poultry breeders are giving increased attention to the possibility of improvement of egg quality through selection. In order to perfect breeding procedures for the improvement of egg quality, more detailed information concerning the heritable nature of egg quality factors is desirable. In the present report, estimates of the heritability and repeatability of total egg weight, yolk weight, and albumen weight will be given. This is intended as the first of a series of papers dealing with the subject of breeding for egg quality. All of the heritability estimates of total egg weight reported in the literature indicate this character to be highly heritable. Thirteen separate estimates from four different sources cited by Shoffner and Sloan (1948) ranged from …

INTRODUCTION LIMITED reports are available concerning certain egg components. Romanoff and Romanoff (1949) summarized the research work in this area prior to 1949. Since that time, several papers have been published which deal with strain influences on quality measurements and chemical components of eggs. Those dealing with strain influences on quality have been reported previously (May, Schmidt and Stadelman, 1957). Certain chemical components of egg albumen were studied by Cotterill and Winter (1954). They found wide variations among hens and smaller variations among breeds as to total solids, total protein and lysozyme activity. The five breeds tested by Arroyave, Scrimshaw and Tandon (1957) showed small but significant differences as to nitrogen content of their eggs. Their strains varied as to age and although age was not a statistically significant factor in the case of nitrogen, it may be of importance in other strains than those tested. The work reported herein …

THE principal financial return from a flock of turkeys is from the sale of the carcasses rather than the sale of market eggs. As a result the basis of selection of turkey breeders has been different from the methods employed with chickens. In the past the selection has been based almost entirely upon trueness to standard type and color as described by the American Standard of Perfection or else trueness to the market type preferred by the breeder. Both trueness to standard and to an ideal market type are important but will not be discussed in this paper. However, in addition to the above mentioned considerations, the successful turkey breeder should consider those factors which will give him poults at the lowest possible cost. In the final analysis the most ideal turkey breeder is that bird which will produce the largest number of healthy, vigorous poults bred to develop the . . .

FEW data are available on the water consumption of hens. However, information on this subject is of interest from the standpoint of comparative physiology and of value from the standpoint of poultry management. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to place on record some data obtained at the Southwest Poultry Experiment Station, Glendale, Arizona, in an experiment for ascertaining the effects of air temperature, live weight, and egg production on the water consumption of hens. PROCEDURE Two similar groups of 26 White Leghorn hens each and two similar groups of 21 Rhode Island Red hens each were used in the experiment, which was started on November 1, 1934, and ended on October 31, 1935. The hens were confined to the same house in adjacent pens, each of which had 400 square feet of floor space. Air temperatures were taken on a recording thermometer. The averages shown in the second . . .

IN PREVIOUS studies at this station, Berg et al. (1962), it was observed that the incidence of an abnormal wing feather condition increased among chicks hatched from eggs laid by breeder pullets just entering production, as level of calcium in the maternal diet was increased. The abnormal wing feather condition, which was similar to that described by Young et al. (1958) as a symptom of zinc deficiency, was markedly decreased in chicks hatched from eggs laid four weeks after the pullets had reached 30 percent lay. Symptoms of zinc deficiency in the chicks were evident even though the chick diet calculated to contain 38 p.p.m. 2 of zinc and the chicks were kept in galvanized metal batteries. This paper will present further evidence as to the effect of calcium level of the breeder diet on abnormal wing feather development of chicks, and evidence for an abnormally high zinc requirement at the…

POULTRYMEN are often confronted with the presence of a condition referred to as “pasting up” of their baby chicks. This condition has received considerable discussion, but very little research work has been done in an attempt to find out its cause or how to control it. This condition is the accumulation of soft fecal material on the down around the vent which generally hardens, forming an encrustation that may completely block the anal opening in severe cases. Seeger (1942) reports that the feeding of fine cracked corn prevented “pasting up.” It was the object of this laboratory to find out if brooding temperature has any effect as to the amount of “pasting up” and to find out if fine cracked grain would have any protective value when fed as the only feed for the first two or three days. PROCEDURE This paper presents the results of a series of three . . .

PHOSPHORUS and calcium requirements for the young poult have been reviewed by Wilcox et al. (1953) and the phosphorus requirement by Almquist (1954). The requirements of the turkey over 8 weeks of age are not well established. Sullivan (1959) indicated that the total phosphorus requirement of female and male turkeys from 4 to 20 weeks was .70 to .80% and .75 to .85% respectively, when a diet containing 1.55% calcium was fed. The experiments reported in this paper were conducted to obtain data to estimate the quantitative requirements of turkeys over 8 weeks of age for calcium and phosphorus, and to study the interrelationship of these minerals. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS Experiment 1. Two hundred eighty sexed eight-week old Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys were distributed into 10 groups of 14 females and 10 groups of 14 males. The turkeys were reared in confinement in a concrete floored building during the …

THE commonly accepted level of protein in starter mashes for chicks is 19–21 percent. If lower levels of protein are fed, rates of growth are at first comparatively slow. When higher levels of protein are fed it is usually concluded that there is no advantage in efficiency of feed utilization gained by this practice (Heuser, 1941). PROCEDURE This paper presents the results of three series of tests made with Single Comb White Leghorn cockerels. 1 Twenty-five or 26 chicks were used in each group in all tests. In the first and third tests all of the birds received proved to be cockerels. In the second test the number of females varied from 0 to 4 in each group of chicks. The all-mash rations used are shown in Table 1. The estimated protein was 20 and 29 percent in mash A and B, respectively. Actual analysis showed the protein content of these . . .

A REVIEW of the literature on the amino acid requirements of poults has been presented by Almquist (1952). More recently, several papers have been published on the supplemental value of lysine and methionine in low-protein poult diets. Fisher et al. (1956) reported that lysine and methionine hydroxy analogue-supplemented low-protein diets resulted in poult gains superior to those produced by practical high-protein diets. These results are in agreement with those reported by Baldini et al. (1954). However, Klain et al. (1954) have shown that growth was superior for poults fed diets containing 25.5 and 28 percent protein compared to a 21.8 percent protein diet supplemented with methionine and lysine. Balloun and Phillips (1957) reported that in the 6–12 week period, lysine supplementation reduced the protein requirement of Broad Breasted Bronze by 2 percentage units. Johnson (1950) observed no improvement in rate of growth of turkeys from 10–20 weeks of …

ORIENTATION of the egg in the oviduct and during the act of laying may have a bearing on the production of the “egg bound” condition which is a major factor in the death of laying hens. Benesch (1922), Pittler (1924), and Fleischhauer (1926) have studied egg orientation from this standpoint. It has been suggested that when eggs are laid large end first or when they are turned during passage through the oviduct they are more apt to cause the eggbound condition. Before it is possible to evaluate this hypothesis, it is essential to know the relative frequency with which eggs are laid large end first and of the turning of eggs during the act of laying. The authors’ particular reason for conducting this study is the possible bearing uterine orientation and laying position have on hatching position of chicks. It will be shown in a subsequent paper that eggs found . . .

SINCE 1936, experiments designed to improve the hatchability obtained with a diet consisting primarily of polished rice and sardine fishmeal (Lepkovsky, Taylor, Jukes and Almquist, 1938) have been in progress. Until the experiments reported in this paper, satisfactory hatchability had never been secured, although through numerous tests, conducted with the cooperation of Dr. S. Lepkovsky and Dr. H. J. Almquist, the original ration had been improved by the addition of various supplements to sustain essentially normal rates of egg production (unpublished data). The all-mash ration 7M formed the basal diet used in the experiments reported herewith, excepting for the presence of 5.0 lbs. of crude soybean oil during the period of December 1 to 7, and of 2.0 lbs. of soybean oil plus 3.0 lbs. of Wesson oil from December 8 to 14 inclusive. The oils no longer being available for this purpose, the basal ration for the remainder of . . .

Research studies conducted during the past two years have suggested a lowering of the calcium and phosphorus requirements of starting turkeys. Slinger et al. (1961) and Formica et al. (1962) have published their data in detail. Abstracts of papers on this subject have been published by Blaylock et al. (1961), Pensack and White-Stevens (1961), Standlee et al. (1962), Stephenson et al. (1962) and Sullivan and Kingan (1962). These studies have suggested a minimum calcium requirement of 0.8 to 1.2 percent and a minimum phosphorus (total) requirement of 0.65 to 0.85 percent. A minimum level of “available” phosphorus was not suggested in every report, but a minimum of 0.4 to 0.5 percent was apparently required in most of the studies. The National Research Council (1960) recommended a minimum of 2.0 percent calcium, 1.0 percent total phosphorus and 0.5 percent “available” phosphorus for starting poults. Therefore, research studies subsequent to 1960 have…

IN A PREVIOUS paper (Almquist, 1937) it was reported that hempseed meal showed a remarkable effect on chick gizzard linings in as much as these linings were found to be largely free from the normal corrugations as well as free from gizzard erosions caused by a lack of the chick gizzard factor. In part the effect of hempseed meal appeared to be analagous to that of grit. Bird, et al. (1937) have reported that finely ground diets without grit produced a severely roughened condition of the gizzard lining. This condition could be prevented by feeding grit in connection with fine ground diets or by feeding coarse ground diets. It was suggested that grit be used in basal diets for the study of gizzard erosions in order to eliminate the rough condition and to accentuate the eroded condition. The role of grit and of fineness of diet was, therefore, also investigated, . . .

THE maintenance of inbred lines depends to a large extent on the viability of embryos and of chicks. An earlier paper (Wilson, 1948) discusses egg production rate and fertility which are also important considerations. The main purpose of this study was to obtain estimates of (1) heritability of hatchability and chick viability, (2) the extent to which these traits are affected by the intensity of inbreeding, and (3) the selection differentials which were made while producing these inbred lines. Hatchability and viability are considered as traits of the individual embryo or chick, while egg production rate and fertility are considered as characteristics of the dam. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Hatchability is the percentage of chicks hatched from a given number of fertile eggs. An excellent summary of the effect of environment and heredity on the hatchability of chicken eggs has been compiled by Landauer (1941). More recently published work includes Water’s . . .

AS BREEDING males are one of the principal items of expense in producing chicken hatching eggs experiments were initiated in 1947 at the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station to determine the minimum number of males required in several kinds of flock matings for consistent high fertility. Results from experiments on male to female ratios as related to fertility of New Hampshire females flock mated to New Hampshire males have already been reported by Parker and Bernier (1950). Results from subsequent experiments in which New Hampshire females were flock mated to Delaware and Dark Cornish males at varying ratios are reported in this paper. Also included are results from matings of White Leghorn females flock mated to Black Australorp males. Pertinent literature on relative number of males to fertility has been reviewed (Parker and Bernier, 1950). Recently Raskopf (1957) from a study of 517 Tennessee hatchery flocks involving both heavy breeds and . . .

AN EARLIER paper (Mueller, 1961) dealt with the performance of pullets at constant temperatures of 32°C. (90°F.), 13°C. (55°F.) and in an environment where temperature cycled from 32°C. to 13°C. and back to 32°C. every 24 hours. Using performance at a constant temperature of 13°C. as a base, continuous exposure to 32°C. reduced egg production of survivors 28%, average egg weight 15% and feed intake 32%. Little is known about the mechanisms which cause these adverse effects of high temperature. One possibility, suggested by further analysis of the data reported in 1961, was environmentally induced nutritional deficiencies. Hill and Dansky (1950) reported that, while daily nutrient requirements appeared to be relatively constant absolute quantities, requirements expressed as percentage of the ration were related to feed intake. Since the rations used from 1958 to 1960 (Mueller, 1961) were formulated in terms of required nutrient levels per unit weight of feed, the …

OBSERVATIONS on the relations of frequency of insemination by artificial means and of semen dosage to fertility in turkey hens have been made previously. Burrows and Marsden (1938) used 0.05 ml. of pooled semen and inseminated repeatedly at intervals of 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Average fertility in their different groups varied between 68 and 100 percent and showed no apparent tendency to decrease with increasing length of interval. Parker (1946) observed little effect of semen dosage in turkey hens inseminated at 3 week intervals with amounts varying between 0.005 and 0.1 ml. Both investigators reported wide variations in fertility between individual hens within subgroups. The observations to be reported in the present paper were made in the course of studies preliminary to investigations of the relations of various modifications of sperm environment to the fertilizing capacity of the sperm. For this purpose more critical information on the pattern . . .

WITH increasing production of eggs, the consumer's demand for quality also increases. In preceding papers (Orel, Musil and Znojilova, 1956Orel, Musil and Znojilova, 1958) it has been shown that the quantity of the dense egg white and the strength of egg shell may be increased, and the rate of evaporation from the eggs may be decreased, by selection of hens according to the quality of their eggs. The quality of egg shells was evaluated by the specific gravity of the fresh laid eggs, a procedure whose repeatability estimates have been stated to be R = 0.33. The breeding quality of the hens, from the standpoint of shell quality, was evaluated by determining the specific gravity of at least ten eggs laid in sequence. Poultry production is dependent on the artificial incubation of eggs. Svensson (1957), studying the relationship of the specific gravity of fresh laid eggs to their hatchability, showed that eggs with …

THE hen’s egg contains a large amount of phosphorus (about 0.6% of the dry matter) which is distributed in various chemical forms through its three principal components: shell, white, and yolk. It has been observed that radioactive phosphate when administered (fed or injected) to a laying hen appears rapidly in all components and phosphorus compounds of the egg (Chargaff, 1942; Hevesy and Hahn, 1938; Lorenz et al., 1943; O’Neil et al., 1948). The effect of environmental factors on egg production and egg composition (Smith et al., 1954) may well be associated with changes in the rate and extent of transfer of phosphorus from the hen to the egg. This paper reports the results of some studies on the deposition of injected P32 in the egg which were carried out under controlled conditions. METHOD The environmental conditions, a description of the experimental animals, and general methods of analysis used in this …

IT IS a common practice in the turkey industry today not to extend the presetting storage period beyond the seventh day. In fact, many commercial hatcheries aim to set eggs after only 3 or 4 days of storage. This is based on the widely held belief among practical breeders that the hatchability of turkey eggs drops rapidly after 4 days of storage and, certainly after 7 days. Contrary to the earlier observation of Scott (1933) who found that hatching eggs of standard bred Bronze turkeys could withstand storage for several weeks, Asmundson (1947) concluded that hatchability may be adversely affected after only 3 days of storage. In a later paper, Asmundson and MacIlraith (1948) concluded that there was no advantage in setting eggs the same day as laid. In fact, their data suggested that “eggs set the same day as laid do not hatch as well as eggs held several …

A higher percentage of turkeys graded A when they were toe-clipped. In a controlled experiment, toe-clipped turkey toms had 2.1% more grade A than turkeys with normal toes. Records from three processing plants for 1969 and 1970 showed toe-clipped turkey toms varied from 1.2–5% more in percentage grade A than toms that were not toe-clipped. The toe-clipped hens varied from 0–3.2% in improvement in percentage grade A over hens with normal toes. An increase in mortality was observed in the controlled experiment during the first week in those turkeys that had been toe-clipped. These birds were started on wire floors partly covered with paper. There was little influence of toe-clipping on the final body weight of either the hens or the toms in the controlled experiment or in the commercial data from processing plants. One plant did show a significant reduction in body weight of toe-clipped toms compared with normal-toed toms received in the plant for both the 1969 and 1970 processing years. Toe-clipping did not influence the percentage of turkey carcasses condemned in any of the categories studied.

INTRODUCTION INCREASING importance is being given to the colour of egg yolk when judging the quality of eggs. Besides the customary standards of measurement such as shape and weight, firmness of the shell, freshness, structure of egg white and yolk etc. the colour of yolk and its year round constancy are decisive criteria in the maintenance of standardized egg quality (Farnsworth and Nordskog, 1955; Braunlich, 1962, 1966; Bartlett and Podger, 1962; Snyder, 1962; Tagwerker, 1962; Scholtyssek, 1962, 1964; Scholtyssek and Bohm, 1962; Torges, 1964; Mehner et al., 1965; Brown, 1964; Schmidt, 1963). In the last ten to fifteen years a number of papers appeared which are concerned especially with pigmentation of the yolk, e.g. by Rescheleit (1953); Steinegger and Zanetti (1957 Steinegger and Zanetti (1959); Steinegger et al. (1957); Rauch (1959, 1960, 1961); Scholtyssek et al. (1961, 1966); Smetana (1961); Brown (1964); Carlson et al. (1961); Treat (1963); Boguth and Czernicki (1962); Mainguy…

CONFINEMENT methods of raising turkeys have been used for several years and are becoming increasingly important as diseases grow more prevalent. Information on the rate of growth and feed consumption of young turkeys is still very limited in amount. There are less experimental data to be found on such factors as production of early eggs and poults, annual egg production, inbreeding, fertility, hatchability, confinement of breeding turkeys and feed consumption of breeding turkeys. With the increased numbers of turkeys raised the last few years has come a demand for more experimental data on factors related to turkey production. So far as the authors are aware, no information is available on the production of early turkeys and confinement of breeding turkeys. This paper is a preliminary report of observations gathered from breeding turkeys. EXPERIMENTAL The data were secured from the 1931–1932 records of the experimental flock of Bronze turkeys belonging . . .

It was shown in an earlier paper, (Lippincott, 1921) 1 that the correlation between age at the laying of the first egg and the mean weight of the first ten eggs laid by each of 123 Single Comb White Leghorn pullets was of a high order (r = 0.7139 ± .0293). Quite recently Jull (1924) 2 has calculated the same correlation for 40 Barred Plymouth Rock pullets and found that r = 0.845 ± 0.030. Data are now available upon which to calculate the correlation between age at the laying of the first egg and the mean weight of eggs laid during each successive thirty-day period of the 360 days following the onset of laying, for 60 Single Comb White Leghorns. MATERIAL The birds serving as the source of these data belonged to the pedigreed and somewhat inbred flock of Kansas State Agricultural College. They comprised a selected group, from an original . . .

THE protein requirement of the laying hen has been reported to be as high as 17 percent or as low as 11 percent. A review of the literature concerning the protein requirement of the laying hen was made by Harms et al. (1962) in a paper in which they reported that the energy content of the diet and season of the year would influence this requirement. It was later reported, by Harms and Waldroup (1962), that some strains have a higher protein requirement than others and that strain or breed difference might account for some of the variation reported on the protein requirement of the laying hen. The fact that different strains vary in their protein requirement was confirmed in a report by Moreng et al. (1964). Results from a more recent study (Sharpe and Morris, 1965) indicated that 12.5 percent protein was adequate for Rhode Island Red X Light …

IN A PREVIOUS report by Harper and Parker (1957) it was shown that winter hatched turkeys become refractory when reared during a time of year with increasing daily light. Termination of refractoriness could be brought about by subjecting hens, when 22 to 24 weeks of age, to a shortened daily light period of nine hours for three or four weeks. Following restricted lighting and re-exposure to a long day length, the hens laid at a rate two to three times that of hens maintained on long hours of daily light. Progesterone was used in the above experiments in an attempt to overcome the refractory condition without dependence upon a change to a short daily light period. Levels of 40 and 80 mg. of progesterone were found to depress egg production. A review of the pertinent literature will be found in the previous paper. In a more recent study Van Tienhoven …