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PREVIOUS work reported from this laboratory compared metabolizable and productive (net) energy determinations with chicks and showed that metabolizable energy is the better measure (Hill and Anderson, 1958). The purpose of this paper is to report determinations of metabolizable energy values for a variety of grains and grain products for chickens based on the use of glucose as the reference substance. Only limited data on directly determined metabolizable energy values are available for poultry, and are contained in reports by Mitchell and Haines (1927), Fraps et al. (1940), Olsson (1950), Hainan (1951) and Carpenter and Clegg (1956). Metabolizable energy values have been computed from digestibility data for many feeding materials by Axelsson and Eriksson (1951) and Titus (1955). Digestibility determinations with avian species are subject to limitations of the methods used for chemical or physical preparation of fecal and urinary constituents during analysis, or the difficulties of using surgically altered …

POULTRY producers have long considered it desirable to include large amount of green feed in the ration of breeding hens. Since the discovery and development of our knowledge concerning vitamin A it has been assumed that this green feed was fed to supply large amounts of this vitamin and that vitamin A was closely associated with hatchability and chick livability. Actual corroboration of this assumption by experimental data is limited. Throughout this paper references made to vitamin A refer to vitamin A activity regardless of whether its source is vitamin A, carotene or other vitamin A active substances. Sherwood and Fraps (1934) found that the hatchability increased as the level of heat-dried alfalfa leaf meal increased up to 8 percent of the mash. Later work by these authors (1935) did not show an increase in hatchability for an 8 percent alfalfa group over a 4 percent one. Studies reported by . . .

AMONG the investigators who have demonstrated that fresh alfalfa, alfalfa meal, alfalfa leaves, and alfalfa hay may be used as sources of vitamin A in the diet of hens are Beach (1924), Davis and Beach (1925), Kennard and Lingle (1928), and Stuart (1929). Unpublished data obtained at the United States Poultry Experiment Station at Glendale, Arizona, also bear out their findings. However, there seem to be few if any published data regarding the comparative value of these products, as well as of other sources of vitamin A, when fed as a part of the diet of growing chicks. Accordingly, the experiments which are reported in this paper were planned for the purpose of obtaining such data. Inasmuch as it has been found during the last few years that vitamin A is of considerable value in preventing infection, it seemed desirable to learn whether or not this vitamin is also of . . .

LEVELS of free amino acids as determined in the blood plasma of chicks can be quite variable even though the chicks are fed similar diets and are of the same breed, sex and age (Shao and Hill, 1967; Hill and Olsen, 1963). An unusually high level of lysine and threonine observed in an experiment in which blood was sampled under conditions of extremely high summer temperature (Hill and Olsen, 1965), prompted us to consider the possibility that the metabolic rate of the bird at the time of sampling might influence plasma amino acid levels. As a test of this hypothesis we measured the plasma amino acids following administration of thiouracil at a level which might be presumed to lower metabolic rate (Singh and Shaffner, 1950; McCartney and Shaffner, 1950, 1949; Shaffner and Andrews, 1948). Although the observations in the present paper did not support the above hypothesis they are believed . . .

INTRODUCTION THE existence of a dietary vitamin K requirement for species of birds other than Gallus gallus has been recognized for considerable time (Dam et al., 1937). Although Almquist stated in 1939 that turkeys were subject to vitamin K deficiencies, no data appear to exist comparing the turkey poult’s requirement with that of the chick. Exact measurements of vitamin K requirements are made difficult by the presence of residual amounts of the vitamin in the experimental rations, by coprophagy, and possibly by intestinal synthesis of vitamin K. As considerable experimental work has been done with the chick, comparisons of the requirements of the two species would appear to be of interest. The experiments reported in this paper have been undertaken in order to obtain an estimate of the requirement of turkey poults for vitamin K, and the efficiency of a water- and a fat-soluble form when compared by a curative . . .

THE addition of fat to broiler diets has resulted in various observations from different laboratories. Siedler and Schweigert (1953), Runnels (1955), Sunde (1954) and Biely and March (1954) have reported that fat favorably influences feed conversion and growth of chicks. Rosenberg et al. (1955) gave an account of the manner in which fat increased the amino acid requirement of the chick, and Combs (1955) reported on the part fat plays in body composition of chicks and tendency of chicks to “overeat.” The question naturally arises as to whether these beneficial effects are due entirely to the energy content of fat or to some other intrinsic value of fat per se. The experiments presented in this paper were designed to shed light on this question. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Two four-week experiments are reported in which three and six replicate groups of 16 battery reared New Hampshire male chicks were used in each …

THE immediate removal of body heat from dressed and eviscerated poultry is considered essential for retention of quality. However, during the time in which the body heat is being removed, the carcass may change in weight due to cooling mediums. Roberts and Robertson (1941) found a weight increase or a weight loss when poultry carcasses were wet or dry cooled respectively. Orr (1953) observed a faster rate of cooling with running tap water, water plus ice and water plus ice plus compressed air than with air methods. In cooling eviscerated chicken Connally et al. (1954) observed a faster rate of cooling with a flowing liquid than with agitated ice slush. Heavier birds were found to cool much slower than lighter ones. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE In the several studies conducted and reported in this paper, a total of 576 fryers, hens and cocks were used. These were slaughtered by slitting the …

PREVIOUS reports from this laboratory have described studies of methods of determining energy values for chickens (Hill and Anderson, 1958), determination of the metabolizable energy value of glucose (Anderson, Hill and Renner, 1958), and the metabolizable energy values of grains and grain products for growing chicks (Hill, Anderson, Renner and Carew, 1960). The purpose of this paper is to report studies of the metabolizable energy of soybean oil meals, soybean millfeeds and soybean hulls, materials widely used in poultry feeding, as part of a systematic study of the energy values of feedstuffs for poultry. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all of the experiments to be described, the reference diet employed was diet E9, the composition of which is shown in Table 1. It was formulated to contain adequate amounts of all known nutrients required by the chick, and was liberally supplemented with fish meal, fish solubles, brewers’ dried yeast and dried …

INTRODUCTION THE literature contains considerable evidence, both direct and indirect, supporting the partial resorption of skeletan mineral during egg shell formation in the avian species. Cox and Balloun (1971) reviewed some of the related literature. Hurwitz and Bar (1969), have stated that, in their opinion, the function of bone in supplying calcium to the egg shell has been considerably overestimated. The evidence presented by Cox and Balloun (1970) and that presented by Taylor (1961), does not support this opinion. One possible explanation for this lack of agreement is the differences in the period of the hen’s reproductive cycle investigated. This report is an extension of our previous paper (Cox and Balloun, 1970) and contains the results from two experiments to study the utilization of femur bone mineral after onset of egg production in commercial strains of pullets. MATERIALS AND METHODS Physiological factors studied on individual birds were 140-day body weight,…

EVANS (1925) reported that if male rats after weaning are fed a diet which contains all necessary substances except vitamin E, they become sterile after they have been on the diet 90 to 150 days. Adamstone and Card (1934) found that after Rhode Island Red roosters had been kept for a year on a diet deficient in vitamin E they were still able to fertilize eggs, but that after two years on such a diet a few of the roosters were sterile. They concluded that although the testicles of chickens undoubtedly are injured by a dietary deficiency of vitamin E they are, nevertheless, more resistant to the injury than are the testicles of mammals. The experiment reported in this paper was made for the purpose of comparing the semen production of cockerels fed a diet to which wheat germ oil had been added as a source of additional vitamin E . . .

THREE recent papers in this journal by Turner et al. (1945, 1945a. 1946) and a review by Reineke (1946) report experiments which led these writers to conclude that iodinated casein, a substance having the properties of thyroxine, has a marked stimulatory effect upon the production of eggs by domestic fowls. In most of the experiments this effect was believed to be exerted chiefly during the months of late spring and early summer, when production normally declines, but in one test (Turner et al., 1946, Lot IV) the treated birds laid better throughout the year. Since any such effect would have considerable economic value, it seemed desirable to repeat the experiments. THE EXPERIMENT Birds.—Single Comb White Leghorn pullets of the C and K strains resistant to lymphomatosis (Hutt and Cole, 1947) were utilized. The total number enrolled at the start of these trials was 401, these being divided in four . . .

ROUTINE observation shows that chickens normally transfer variable but often considerable quantities of feed to the drinking water, where such feed is generally discarded in the cleaning operation. This paper attempts to quantify such feed wastage under several different combinations of feeding, watering, and bird-handling systems. Included are data on wastage patterns of individual birds in relationship to feed and water intake. PROCEDURE All data in this report are based on one group of 10 W. L. pullets, housed in individual cages (12 in. × 16 in. × 18 in.) of a commercial, multitiered laying battery. At the start of the study the birds were laying between 60–70%. They were alternately exposed to various combinations of management conditions, designed to simulate commercial operations, as follows: 1. Feeding Systems: All mash or all pellet-laying rations, replenished daily either in individual-bird-feeders or multibird-hoppers mounted in front of the cage. The feeding …

FROM the work of Romijn and Roos (1938) and of Romijn (1948) about the development of the air space in the hen’s egg and the respiratory movements of the chicken before birth we know many details about the physiology of foetal respiration in the hen. Many problems remained unsolved, especially with regard to the oxygen supply of the chicken before birth and the influence of the CO2 on the O2 combining power of the blood. Further work on these points has been carried out and the results of experiments on the oxygen supply and the diffusion of gases in general through the egg shell is the subject of the present paper. According to Romijn and Roos (1938) the composition of the gas in the air space does not remain at a constant level during the incubation time, but from the tenth day there is a gradual increase in CO2 content . . .

CONSIDERABLE evidence has appeared in the literature to indicate a number of adverse effects associated with high environmental temperatures. Decreased rates of production were reported by Wilham (1931), Hutt (1938) and Hinds (1949) during periods of high summer temperature. Reductions in egg weight associated with increased environmental temperatures have been reported by Bruckner (1936), Bennion and Warren (1933), Skogland et al. (1951) and Hutchinson (1953). Additional effects have included decreased shell thickness (Warren and Schnepel, 1940) and lowered feed consumption (Wilson, 1949; Lee et al., 1945). Mueller (1961) reported that a constant temperature of 90°F. resulted in depressed egg production, feed intake, egg weight and shell quality as compared with a constant temperature of 50°F. A number of papers have indicated that the body temperature of laying hens was elevated by 0.5–1.5°F. at environmental temperatures of 90°F. or above (Heywang, 1938; Lee et al., 1945; Wilson, 1948). Yeates et…

SELTZER (1956) patented a method for controlling the sex of chicks by dipping hatching eggs in solutions of sex hormones. A procedure similar to Seltzer’s has been employed by Glick and Sadler (1961) and Glick (1961, 1962, 1963a) to introduce testosterone propionate (TP) into fertile eggs. These workers reported a significantly smaller bursa of Fabricius or no bursa in birds hatched from eggs dipped in 0.67 to 3.0 percent solutions of TP. The immunological competence of birds hatched from the TP dipped eggs was markedly reduced or eliminated. The primary purpose of this paper is to report the quantitative changes occurring in the weight of the bursa of Fabricius and antibody response in birds hatched from eggs dipped in varying levels of TP. PROCEDURE Eggs were removed from the incubator on the third day of incubation. One and one-quarter inches of the small end of the egg was immersed in…

HARSHAW et al. (1943) reported the results of physical and chemical analyses of uncooked male and female turkeys of four varieties and strains: Beltsville Small White, Broad Breasted Bronze, standardbred Bronze, and standardbred White Holland. This paper presents the following data for turkeys from the same experimental lots: breast type grade, leg fleshing grade, fat grade, and evaluation of edible quality. REVIEW OF LITERATURE In so far as can be determined there is no published material dealing with turkey variety comparisons from the angles of market grade factors and meat palatability. According to Harshaw et al. (1943), the chemical composition of the raw breast muscle in the different varieties and strains showed little variation. The water content was between 73 and 74 percent in most cases, and the fat content in general between 1 and 2 percent, averaging slightly more than 1 percent. The water content of the raw leg . . .

DURING the past decade, workers at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station have published reports showing that turkey breeder hens require certain dietary unidentified factor supplements for optimum reproductive performance (Atkinson et al., 1951, 1953, 1955; Ferguson et al., 1956; Feldman et al., 1957; and Whiteside et al., 1960). Addition of such supplements as dried brewer’s yeast, condensed fish solubles, fermentation residue, and dehydrated alfalfa meal to a milo-corn-soybean oil meal basal diet, markedly improved hatchability of fertile eggs, (Whiteside et al., 1960). An experiment to study the effect of adding several unidentified factor supplements to a corn-soybean oil meal diet on the performance of Broad Breasted Bronze hens is reported in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL Twelve pens of 10 Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens in an enclosed house with mechanical ventilation were used. The birds had been on a protein requirements study (Jensen and McGinnis, 1961). For eleven weeks, they were…

EGGS from turkeys whose eggs averaged from 84–89 grams in weight, about the modal egg weight for the material reported, were reported by Marble and Margolf (1936) to have higher hatchability than eggs from females whose eggs averaged less than 84 or more than 89 grams. This finding is in agreement with the concensus of reported work on the effects of egg weight on hatchability of hen’s eggs, as given by Landauer (1937). Data reported in the present paper were collected during the 1937 breeding season at the National Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland. The turkey females consisted of 156 birds, chiefly pullets, of several varieties * and crosses * and were mated to unrelated males. All birds were selected for small size, the average weight in January-February being approximately 11 pounds for the young breeding hens and 21 pounds for the young breeding toms. The small size of the breeding . . .

A SIMPLE effective technique for the artificial insemination of Japanese quail is needed if these birds are to realize their full potential as laboratory animals for poultry investigations. Wilson et al. (1961) observed 10 percent fertility when quail were inseminated by a modification of the Burrows and Quinn (1939) method. Fertility levels of 9 and 4 percent depending upon semen dosage were reported by Ogasawara and Huang (1963). A method developed by Wentworth and Mellen (1963) resulted in fertility of 77.5 percent of birds inseminated. The disadvantages of this method stem from the necessity of introducing a hypodermic needle through the hard shelled egg present in the uterus with deposition of the semen just beyond the anteroventral end of the egg. Aside from allowing insemination of only birds that have a hard shell egg in the uterus, the egg following each insemination is lost. The primary objective of this paper…

EARLIER papers of this series have been concerned with the ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of chickens and laying hens fed typical poultry rations. Holmes, Tripp, and Satterfield (1938), reported that the ascorbic acid content of plasma of rapidly growing eight-week old Rhode Island Red chicks varied from 1.56 mg. to 2.23 mg., and averaged 2.04 mg. percent, whereas that of 12-week old chicks varied from 1.46 mg. to 2.43 mg., and averaged 2.05 mg. percent. They found no consistent relationship between the plasma ascorbic acid values of the different sexes. Later these authors (1939) studied the ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of Rhode Island Red pullets which received a typical poultry ration during a 15-month laying period. The ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of the pullets at the various stages of the experiment was 1.84 mg. percent at the beginning of the laying . . .

MALE fertility, by virtue of its influence on net chick production per laying hen, and hence on chick costs, is of considerable importance in broiler production. A number of papers have been published indicating a positive relationship between semen characteristics and fertility in artificial insemination (for reviews see Lorenz, 1959; Smyth and Jeffrey, 1960; and Lake, 1962). It has also been shown that a slight positive correlation may exist between semen characteristics and fertility in natural mating as well (McDaniel and Craig, 1959; Soller et al., 1965; Szumowski, 1963). It is of interest, therefore, to estimate the heritability of various semen traits. Such estimates will provide information on the possibility of improving semen characteristics, and hence fertility, by selection. In view of the strong selection for rate of gain carried out in broiler lines, it is also of interest to estimate the genetic correlation between semen characteristics and rate of…

IN A PAPER dealing with the effect of temperature on size of pullet eggs, Warren (1939) assembled data from 11 experiment stations ranging in location from 14° to 56° north latitude. He reported that egg size fluctuations, following physiological maturity of chickens, usually showed a close correlation with temperatures after the daily maximum temperature exceeded 70°F. for a period of a few days or more. When the maximum temperature seldom exceeded 70°F. egg size increased throughout the pullet year, whereas in localities where summer temperatures were high, egg size was depressed and chickens were unable to exhibit their maximum potential unless the temperature dropped below 70° by the end of the laying year. No data were available to Warren for a northern latitude of approximately 22.5° N (midway between Chipley, Florida, and Los Banos, P. I.). Since comparable data have been summarized at Honolulu (21°18′30″), this communication is submitted to . . .

THE data published by Hutt and Pilkey (1930), Funk (1934), Funk and Kempster (1934), Hays (1937), and Pritsker (1940) show clearly what has long been recognized, that chicken hens lay more eggs in the morning than in the afternoon. This paper presents data on the time of day that turkey hens lay their eggs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Trapnest records of the turkey hens of the Division of Poultry Husbandry, University of California at Davis furnished the data for this study. The data are for the five years 1934 to 1938 inclusive, with those for 1936 and 1937 being most complete, since in the spring of those two years the trapnests were visited at approximately hourly intervals. Since trapping was not continuous, the distributions on an hourly basis may not be as smooth as if it had been possible to record egg production at a few minute intervals throughout the day. . . .

THE average thickness of the egg shell is reduced when sulfanilamide is added to a laying hen’s diet (Scott et al., 1945). Because of this fact, it might be argued that it would be desirable to select for egg shell thickness under the adverse condition of having sulfanilamide in the feed. The rationale would be that a breeder would be selecting hens that would lay eggs with thick shells under adverse conditions, as well as under more favorable conditions. However, one has to guard against the possibility that the “best” hens selected for thick egg shell under the sulfanilamide regime might not have the thickest egg shells when fed a normal diet. An interaction effect, hens × diets, would indicate that such a condition exists. This paper describes some effects of adding sulfanilamide to the diet and presents evidence for an interaction effect involving the specific gravity of eggs. METHODS …

HEYWANG (1946) reported that calcium gluconate was not superior to limestone as the main source of egg shell calcium during hot weather when the diets were formulated to contain about 2.0% Ca. During recent years, however, at least one commercial supplier of calcium gluconate has suggested that as little as one pound per ton of laying diet will improve “shell texture.” It thus seemed desirable to determine whether this calcium source improves egg shell quality during hot weather when it replaces some of the limestone in a laying diet with at least as much Ca as the requirement (2.25%) given by the National Research Council (1960). The dietary level of 2.5% Ca was chosen for the experiment discussed in this paper, mostly because that level has been fed at our station for several years. PROCEDURE Three groups of 15 laying White Leghorns hatched during June of the previous year were …

IN a recent paper Elvehjem and Kline (1933) demonstrated that chicks are hatched with a very meager supply of vitamin D and that, if they are placed on a rachitic ration immediately after hatching, there is no significant increase in the ash content of the bones. Invariably the bone ash decreases from 32–34 percent at birth to about 30 percent at 5 weeks of age. Due to this low ash content of the bones very early in the chick’s life we suggested that the usual period of 5 to 6 weeks used in vitamin D assay involving the chick could be reduced materially because a very wide spread in bone ash between chicks receiving no vitamin D and those receiving an ample supply is obtained as early as the second week. If a shorter period than 5 weeks is to be used for assay, it becomes necessary to ascertain . . .

THE literature contains many reports about the effect of antibiotics on the growth rate of young chickens, but an extensive review does not seem necessary for the scope of this paper. Rather, it seems preferable to mention only two pertinent reports. The first is that of Couch and coworkers (1952) who found the “best and most constant results have been obtained when a combination of antibiotics is fed” (to broilers). The other is that of Heywang (1956) who found that chlortetracycline at the levels of 50 and 100 grams per ton of diet increased the egg production of apparently healthy White Leghorns kept under high, but normal, environmental air temperatures. In two experiments conducted during hot weather prior to 1954 at the Southwest Poultry Experiment Station, Glendale, Arizona, combinations of low levels of antibiotics were at least as effective as somewhat higher levels of individual antibiotics. In the first of …

JULL and Titus (1928) related growth to feed consumption in cross bred progeny of Barred Plymouth Rock females mated to Rhode Island Red males. The chicks were fed by lot but were weighed individually so that variation within lots could be determined. They reported coefficients of variation in weights on the order of 10–12% of the mean. These writers commented on the difficulty of explaining the differences between the theoretical live weights attainable by 4 lots of chicks which received the same feed and treatment during the trial. Duplicate lots of males and females were fed in parallel brooders and later in pens, and yet mean interval weights varied consistently. This was explained by differences in feed intakes so that feed conversion values were about the same. In another paper Titus and Jull (1928) compared the growth rates of cockerels, capons and pullets up to 26 weeks. Under their conditions …

DURING recent years considerable attention has been given to the problem of increasing the viability of the domestic fowl. Marble (1939) and Sturkie (1943) have shown that the viability of the hen can be influenced by careful selective breeding. Taylor and Lerner (1938), Bearse et al. (1939), Hutt et al. (1941), and Bryant and Johnson (1944) have reported the development of resistant and susceptible or low- and high-mortality strains. In breeding for viability it would seem desirable, if possible, to eliminate the families with a high incidence of mortality, before the pullets reach the laying quarters. The study reported in this paper was made to determine whether there is any relationship between the losses from death during the growing period and the first laying year. PROCEDURE The birds used in this experiment were Single Comb White Leghorns: The study extended from the spring of 1938 to the fall of 1943. . . .

IN A previous paper, Cravens, Sebesta. Halpin and Hart (1943) demonstrated the essential nature for pyridoxin for egg production, hatchability and the maintenance of body weight in mature fowl. Although 1.0 mg. of added pyridoxin per kilogram of ration appeared to give results comparable to the higher levels fed, no attempt was made from this experiment to define the requirements of laying hens for this vitamin. We wish to report here the results of a further experiment designed to determine the pyridoxin requirements of laying and breeding hens. EXPERIMENTAL Single Comb White Leghorn pullets from the Experiment Station flock were used in this experiment. These birds were reared on range and placed in an individual cage laying battery September 1, 1942. From this time until December 14, 1942, when the experimental feeding was started, the birds were fed a practical breeding mash with grain. Just prior to the experimental period, . . .

In a previous paper, the effect of feeding ground rape seed to chicks was reported (Turner, 1946). It was shown that when rape seed was fed at the 40 percent level the thyroids of three-week-old White Leghorn chicks were enlarged to a size corresponding to that produced by the feeding of 0.025 percent thiouracil in the starter ration (Turner, 1946a). It seemed of interest to further identify the component of the rape seed possessing the goitrogenic properties. The most obvious first step would consist in the separation of the oil from the seed. A new sample of rape seed (other than the one tested above) was obtained. A portion was retained for assay, then the residue was flaked and extracted with ethylene dichloride. ** The rape seed contained 47.2 percent fat on a 5.5 percent moisture basis whereas the meal contained only 1.4 percent fat after extraction. For some unrecognized reason, . . .

IN A recent paper (Kohler and Graham, 1951) evidence was presented which showed that the juice of forage crops contains an unidentified chick growth factor. The growth promoting effect of the juice preparations could be demonstrated when all known vitamins and crude sources of A.P.F. were included in the basal rations. The growth factor is presumably the same as that described by Scott (1951) for turkeys and may be related to the “grass juice factor” for rats and guinea pigs described by Kohler, Elvehjem and Hart (1938). At various times it has been noted that responsiveness of the chicks to the growth factor varied considerably. Indeed, at times we “lost” the response entirely. Chicks used in these studies have been purchased from local hatcheries. During the past several years, assays have been set up at intervals of 1 to 2 weeks. Since positive and negative controls have been included in . . .

THE concept of heritability is well established among geneticists and practical breeders, but the information on the heritability of production traits is still quite fragmentary, especially in turkeys. This paper reports heritability estimates of 25-week body weights in Broad-breasted Bronze and White Holland turkeys. A survey of the literature reveals only a few estimates of the heritability of body weight in turkeys. An estimate of about 0.23 was calculated for 26-week old male turkeys by Kentucky researchers (1950). This estimate was obtained by the intrasire regression method after correction was made for age (date of hatch?). Abplanalp and Kosin (1952), utilizing data from Broad-breasted Bronze and Beltsville Small Whites, calculated estimates by intraclass correlation and offspringdam regression methods at 4, 8, 14 and 26 weeks of age. Their estimates vary considerably because of age, sex and environmental (climatic) factors, but their most reliable restimates were in the medium to high …

BLAKELY and Cook (1951) reported a 10 fold reduction in lactobacilli counts from the feces of turkey poults fed 9 p.p.m. procaine penicillin in the diet. These workers used poured plates of Difco eosin methylene blue agar for coliform determinations. No consistent pattern was shown for coliform counts, although an increase was recorded for the third and fifth weeks. Anderson et al. (1951) reported that penicillin enhanced the coliform and lactobacilli counts in the cecum of chicks. The present paper reports a continuation of the above work to determine the influence of penicillin on microflora in various sections of the digestive tract. PROCEDURE Day-old turkey poults were placed in an electrically heated battery brooder and fed the basal diet shown in Table 1 with and without 9 p.p.m. procaine penicillin. For determination of the microflora at various levels of the intestinal tract, three poults were picked at random every week …

MIXNER and Upp (1947) found higher thyroxine secretion rates in “double-crossed” hybrid chicks than in “single-crossed” chicks. Their work implied that high thyroxine levels are associated with hybrid vigor. The above paper, as well as the literature relating growth and fattening of broilers with induced hypo- and hyper-thyroidism, suggested that such artificially induced physiological states in broilers might be employed in a study of the effects of these conditions upon the growth of parasitized chickens, and upon the growth of the parasites themselves. The data given here relate to the development of coccidial infections in New Hampshire broilers on a standard growing ration and on the same growing ration to which thyroprotein (Protamone * ) had been added. Data are also included on the amounts of growth made in 3 week test periods by the infected birds. These latter data complement in part the work of Wheeler et al. (1948) on the . . .

INTEREST in the biological significance of haloanisone was stimulated when this product was found to have an anticannibalistic effect in poultry (Marsboom and Sierens, 1962a). In a previous paper (Marsboom and Sierens, 1962b) it was stated that haloanisone, mixed with the feed at the rate necessary to control cannibalism (40 to 50 mg. per kg. feed) had no signficant effect on either growth rate or feed efficiency. This report is concerned with analysis for haloanisone of organs, tissues and eggs of treated chicks and with histopathological studies performed on animals having received the drug over a period of ten weeks. EXPERIMENTAL In the first phase of this experiment twenty-four day old male chicks were hatched from Hyline breeding hens. The birds were raised in electrically heated batteries and transferred to finishing batteries at the age of two weeks. At this moment the birds were divided into two equivalent weight groups…

HAMMOND and Harshaw (1941) found that large quantities of fish oil hindered the transfer of xanthophyll pigments from the diet of the growing chicken to its shanks and skin. Culton and Bird (1941) found that certain meat scraps and fish meals had similar properties. Hammond (1941) found that, in general, suppression of shank color and incidence of encephalomalacia were closely associated. Hence, suppression of shank color is important as an indication of potential, induced vitamin E deficiency in chicks. As a result of these investigations the question was frequently raised whether or not the diet of a hen has an influence on the shank color of her newly-hatched chicks. During the investigation of gizzard lesions in day-old chicks by Miller and Titus (1941) at the Beltsville Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, the opportunity was presented for observing the shank color of large numbers of pedigreed chicks. This paper presents the results . . .

THE prolonged storage of chicken hatching eggs adversely affects the developing embryo during incubation. Such storage delays the initiation of embryonic development, reduces the body weight of the 7 and 14 day embryos, increases the rate of embryonic metabolism, lengthens the incubation period and increases embryonic mortality (Kaufman 1938Kaufman 1939Kaufman 1957; Funk 1947). Data collected in the course of other experiments, indicated a possible effect of hatching egg storage upon post-hatching body weights of chickens. This paper reports those findings. PROCEDURES AND RESULTS The study involved four experiments: Experiment 1. In 1956, one male and ten female White Rocks were placed in each of nine single-sire mating pens. The eggs were stored for 1–7, 8–14 and 15–21 days before incubation. At hatching, all the progeny of each dam were placed in one of three brooder houses. At nine weeks of age the chickens were individually weighed. The …

In a previous experiment reported by the writers 2 in 1926, a commercial oil, extracted from cannery refuse consisting of heads, tails, fins and viscera (including the livers) of salmon, was found to compare favorably with cod liver oil and greens as a source of vitamin A for poultry. That experiment was followed by the one 3 reported in this paper to determine if the salmon oil also contained vitamin D. For this experiment, fifty chicks, three days old, were divided into two groups of twenty-five each, and placed in a brooder-house which was divided, by a wire partition, into two pens. Light was admitted through large glass windows in the front of the house. The feed supplied during the first week was a scratch grain mixture, consisting of equal parts of wheat, granulated yellow corn, and steel cut oats, which was fed three times daily. The feeding of scratch grain was . . .

CHERNICK et al. (1948) have reported on the pancreatic enlargement in chicks fed raw soybean meal. Reviews on various aspects of this problem have since been made by Liener (1958), Cravens and Sipos (1958) and more recently Anonymous (1964). In a previous report from this laboratory (Arscott, 1963) the adverse effects on growth from feeding barley to chicks and the beneficial effects from the use of low levels of corn and/or amylolytic enzymes have been noted. This paper reports on the pancreatic enlargement observed concurrently with the feeding of high barley containing rations to chicks. PROCEDURE Duplicate lots of 12 day-old broiler-type chicks equalized for sex were raised to 4 weeks of age in batteries equipped with raised wire floors, continuous flow waterers and sub-floor electric heaters. In the first 3 experiments broiler chicks which were the result of mating White Vantress males with Nichols 108 females were used. In…

DELAYING sexual maturity in replacement flocks by means of restricted feeding or lighting has long had its advocates. Among the advantages claimed by some, and denied by others, are better body weight when production begins, higher total and more sustained egg production, and larger egg size. (See comments by Platt, 1955; Milby and Sherwood, 1956; Fuller, 1958; Couch, 1959.) It is not the purpose of this paper to debate further the merits or demerits of this management technique; rather it is to suggest that the drug Nicarbazin* may be used to simulate retardation of sexual maturity without restricting feed or light. It has been shown that feeding Nicarbazin at certain levels can temporarily inhibit egg formation in laying birds without depressing body weight or feed intake, and that apparently normal reproductive function is restored shortly after the drug is withdrawn (Sherwood et al., 1956; Baker et al., 1957; Weiss, 1960).

REPEATED research work and common experience have demonstrated the high nutritional value of alfalfa in rations for poultry. Comparatively few observations have been made, however, on the influence of high and low levels of this important feedstuff on the gross anatomy. As alfalfa meal proportions are increased, the fiber content of the ration is also increased, but this is not the only modification introduced since alfalfa contains a good concentration of several essential vitamin factors. Any effect on body organ development may, therefore, be due to these factors as well as to fiber differences. One phase of some research work at the Nebraska Station, on the nutritive value of alfalfa meal in rations for growing chicks, permitted the use of 50 White Rock cockerels in each of two lots for study, with observations as are reported in this paper. Morris (1931) reported no effect on the growth or health of . . .

THE spectacular “bleaching” action of Nicarbazin on brown-shelled eggs (Ott et al., 1955; McLary, 1955) has undoubtedly led to consideration of the use of this drug for control of shell color where this factor is of marketing importance (Sherwood et al., 1956a). But reports of undesirable effects of Nicarbazin on production, egg weight, and yolk mottling (Baker et al., 1956; Ott et al., 1956; Polin et al., 1956; Polin and Porter, 1956; and Sherwood et al., 1956b) indicate that its use on laying flocks would be severely limited. On the other hand, these same papers carry the suggestion that the severity of the effect on the egg may vary considerably from one group of birds to another. The present report extends observations on the bleaching action to birds laying the sometimes hard-to-market “tinted” egg and shows that undesirable effects vary considerably among groups of birds. PROCEDURE Standard laying ration containing . . .

GOWE (1949) has reported that the duration of fertility, measured as the number of days a hen remains fertile after artificial insemination, was a good measure of fertility of both males and females. As Gowe has shown that duration of fertility is a good measure of fertility, the question has arisen whether this would be a good measure to evaluate fertility among inbred lines that have similar coefficients of inbreeding, and are similar in reproductive performance. The data reported in this paper were collected and analyzed in order to determine if differences in duration of fertility could be observed among inbred lines of poultry. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Curtis and Lambert (1929) observed that the mean duration of fertility of females, as obtained after pen matings were discontinued, was 10.7 ± 0.4 days. The extreme duration of fertility in this study was 21 days. Nicholaides (1934) reported the average duration of …

The purpose of this paper is merely to give a summary of the figures that were obtained during the 1922 brooding season at the Vineland Contest. The birds that were being brooded were the progeny of the birds of the Bergen County Contest, but were brooded at Vineland because of the lack of equipment at the Bergen County plant. No one pen received any different attention than another—all were treated alike. The figures are not, therefore, meant to indicate the results of an experiment, but to show about what may be expected on any plant. Efforts were made—and in the writer’s opinion they were successful—to keep an accurate record of every item of expense, as well as accurate records on weights. Since there were nineteen brooder stoves running with from 250 to 300 chicks under each stove, it is felt that the figures may be considered as . . .

Hurwitz and Bornstein (1966) suggested that high levels of dietary limestone depressed feed intake. They further stated that this depression appeared to be more pronounced when the diet contained supplementary fat. In a subsequent paper (Hurwitz et al., 1969), it was found that calcium levels of 4.5 percent slightly reduced feed intake; however, it did not effect the performance of the laying hen. In contrast to the above findings Harms et al. (1961) found that a level of 5.5 percent calcium in the diet of hens for a period of ten months did not effect feed consumption nor performance as indicated by egg production, shell thickness, or mortality. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the influence of excessively high levels of calcium on the performance of laying hens. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Forty-eight groups, each containing five commercial egg production-type pullets maintained in individual cages, were used in this…

Ackerson et al. (1940) and Bice and Dean (1942) reported that inorganic nitrogen supplied by urea was of no apparent value when added to low protein rations for chicks. Moreover, Slinger et al. (1952) recently have found that its value was not materially affected by the addition of procaine penicillin to chick rations. This paper presents results of a similar study with chicks fed supplemental nitrogen from various inorganic compounds. Two experiments were conducted with straight-run day-old New Hampshire chicks. In each experiment ten uniform groups of 20 chicks each were maintained in battery brooders with raised wire floors during a four-week period. The rations used are shown in Table 1. In Experiment 1, urea, ammonium citrate, and dibasic ammonium phosphate were added to the 17% protein basal ration as supplements. These compounds were added to a ration containing only 15 percent protein in Experiment 2. Urea and ammonium citrate …

Carver, Wilhelm and Cook (1938) and Robertson and Carver (1941) have shown that turkeys can balance their feed intake to give optimum growth with a wide variety of feeding systems such as mash and grain; mash, pellets, and grain; pellets and grain; or a 32 percent concentrate and grain. These workers found differences in feed efficiency due to the different feeding systems. Pellets and grain or concentrate and grain fed free choice gave the greatest efficiency of feed utilization. The study reported in this paper was conducted to determine the relative efficiencies of several pellet and grain combinations for producing turkeys. Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys of both sexes were grown to 8 weeks of age under practical conditions. They were then divided by sex into 12 groups of approximately 50 birds each and put on winter wheat range. The birds were weighed individually and their feed consumption measured, at 4-week …

There has been considerable recent interest in the use of defluorinated rock phosphates as a source of phosphorous supplement. Observations on the use of defluorinated rock phosphate for the growing chick have been made by Bird and Caskey (1943) who concluded that the phosphorus of amorphous calcium meta phosphate is as available as that of tri-calcium phosphate; and by McConnell et al. (1944) who found fused rock phosphate to be as satisfactory as bone meal but obtained inconsistent results with calcium meta phosphate. A critical study of the data appearing in these two papers reveals that Bird and Caskey (1943) used a basal diet containing 0.42% phosphorus and supplemented it with tri-calcium phosphate or calcium meta phosphate so as to bring the phosphorus content up to 0.8% to 1.10%, while McConnell et al. (1943) obtained inconsistent results with a diet containing 0.6% phosphorus, 33.3% of which was contributed by calcium . . .

NORMAL body temperature is generally associated with an animal’s state of health. With some diseases body temperature is increased (e.g., erysipelas and cholera), while in others, such as hexamitiasis, a subnormal temperature may be noted (Hinshaw, 1952). Fronda (1921) reported that turkeys had an average body temperature of 106.0°F. with a range of 105.1° to 106.7°, with the 4 p.m. readings the highest. The purpose of this paper is to relate body temperature to air temperature, amount of shade, plumage color, and sex of turkeys. MATERIALS AND METHODS Most of the data were obtained from a series of tests designed to study the shade requirements of turkeys. The turkeys ranged in age from 12 to 26 weeks. They were given a standard turkey growing ration (mash and barley) and water ad lib. Body temperatures were taken with a clinical thermometer inserted in the cloaca to a depth of 8 cm… .