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Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica) were fed 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 p.p.m. Hg as mercuric chloride (HgCl2) from the time of hatching up to the age of 1 year. None of the birds manifested any gross signs of mercury poisioning. Food consumption, growth rate, and weight maintenance were unaffected. Initial oviposition tended to occur at a younger age as dietary mercuric chloride increased, e.g., the median age at which egg laying began among hens fed 32 p.p.m. Hg was 6 days younger than for controls. The average rate of egg production was positively related to the concentration of mercuric chloride with the most pronounced differences between treatments occurring among young (less than 9-week-old) hens. Beyond 9 weeks of age production was more uniform among the treatments, but even after 1 year hens on 32 p.p.m. Hg were laying an average of 13.5% more eggs than controls. Rate of egg fertilization was generally depressed for all Hg-treatments above 4 p.p.m. Hatchability of fertilized eggs and eggshell thickness appeared unaffected by mercuric chloride.

DURING the past few years several reports have appeared on the use of chemical compounds to influence thyroidal activity. One of these, thiouracil, has been shown to produce a hypothyroid condition as measured by decreased metabolism (Reineke, Mixner, and Turner, 1945; Mixner, Tower, and Upp, 1946; and Shaffner and Andrews, 1948). The use of this drug is of interest because the induced hypothryoidism results in an increased deposition of fat and improved market grade in growing chickens (Andrews and Schnetzler, 1946; Andrews and Bohren, 1947). However, Kempster and Turner (1945) and Glazener and Jull (1946) have also shown that thiouracil depresses rate of growth when fed over extended periods (4–5 weeks). Since thiouracil, at the levels fed, was presumably effective in shutting off the elaboration of endogenous thyroxine, it seemed possible that a milder degree of hypothyroidism might induce fattening while permitting normal growth. Thyroprotein (iodinated casein) has been . . .

Semen from males of a flightless strain was diluted with solutions having different salt concentration and pH, and held at 50–52°F for 3–7 hours, following which it was inseminated into White Leghorn females. Varying concentrations and proportions of Na2HPO4 and NaH2PO4· H2O were used in the diluents. Fertility was maximum when the freezing point depression of the diluent was between .607 and .639°C, but decreased gradually outside of this range. There was little difference in fertility between pH 6.47 and 7.95, but outside of this range there was a marked decline. The optimum pH appeared to be between 7.03 and 7.27. Motility was found to be an approximate measure of fertilizing ability with varying salt concentration and a poor measure when varying pHs were used. Hatchability was not adversely affected when eggs were fertilized by diluted, stored sperm. Submitted on July 1, 1957

THE objective of most experiments on altering thyroidal activity of poultry has been to study the effect on growth rate and degree of fattening. Whether or not thyroprotein or goitrogens are ever used to any extent commercially will be largely dependent upon their effects on the over-all efficiency of the bird. Since feed efficiency is markedly affected by changes in the metabolic rate of the bird, this study measures the metabolic response of chickens to thyroprotein and the effect of high and low efficiency diets on this response. Recently Blaxter, Reineke, Crampton, and Petersen (1949) have presented an excellent review on the role of thyroidal materials and of synthetic goitrogens in animal production. A further review at this time seems unnecessary. The action of thyroprotein in elevating the metabolic rate seems to be well established; however, the effect of the caloric level of the diet on the response to thyroprotein . . .

THE reports of feeding thyroprotein to chickens and its effect on growth are not consistent. It is not the objective of this paper to review all those results in detail but it should be mentioned that the level of thyroprotein fed, age of birds, and the season of the year are among the factors that account for the inconsistency in the results of the different investigators. Turner et al. (1944), Glazener et al. (1949), and Boone et al. (1950) found that when high levels of thyroprotein were fed, a marked decrease in the rate of growth was observed. Irwin et al. (1943) reported that severe mortality occurred when high levels of thyroprotein were added to the ration. The objective of this investigation was to determine if there are sire and dam family differences in tolerance of chicks to toxic levels of Protamone and to study the effect of high levels . . .

Many poultry processors face the difficulty of supplying uniformly pigmented birds to the market. The cost of adding pigment sources to the diet makes it necessary to obtain the maximum pigmentation and efficiency from the dietary source. Because much of this pigment is deposited in carcass lipid it was felt that if the amount of oil added to the diet varied, the total body lipid would also vary and the amount of pigment in and immediately underlying the skin would be altered and influence uniformity. Two trials were conducted to determine if varying dietary levels of oil would affect xanthophyll deposition in broiler skin. The birds in both trials were fed either 4, 7 or 10 percent oil in the diet which provided 2.17, 2.35 and 2.53 Cal. M.E./mg. of xanthophyll respectively. These rations were fed ad libitum from one day of age until they were sacrificed at 8 weeks of age for birds in trial 1 and 7 or 8 weeks of age for those in trial 2. Skin samples were taken from the breast and back of each bird, extracted with acetone and the xanthophyll content determined. The lipid from each sample was extracted with a chloroform-methanol mixture and weighed. The increase in dietary oil in the rations of this experiment did result in significant increases in xanthophyll deposition in the back skin for both 7 and 8 week old birds. More xanthophyll was deposited per gram of tissue as the percentage of dietary oil increased. The carcass weight and tissue lipid also increased as dietary oils were increased.

SEVERAL investigators have studied the resistance of different breeds of chickens to high environmental temperatures. Hutt (1938) observed that the White Leghorn is more resistant to high environmental temperature than the Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock. Lamoreux and Hutt (1939) found that the temperature of the White Leghorn was higher than that of Rhode Island Reds at seven and ten days of age. Wilson (1949) reported that at 90° and 100°F. the body temperature of the Rhode Island Red was higher than that of the Leghorn. Further evidence of breed differences was presented by Yeates et al. (1941) and Lee et al. (1945). These workers found that the White Leghorn was consistently better able to withstand high temperatures than the Rhode Island Red or the Australorp. With day-old chicks, placed in sealed shipping boxes and kept in an air temperature of 100°F., Wilson and Plaister (1951) found that . . .

ACCORDING to Bennion and Warren (1933), Gutteridge et al. (1944), and Warren et al. (1950), egg production is depressed by low winter temperatures. The drop is more pronounced when the onset of cold weather is sudden or when its duration is prolonged (Bruckner, 1936; Hinds, 1949). The available evidence indicates that low temperature has little effect on egg weight (Romanoff and Romanoff, 1949; Wilson et al., 1957), and that shell thickness is greater during the winter (Romanoff and Romanoff, 1949). However, controlled experiments have not been conducted on the effect of the rate of decline in temperature on the performance of birds exposed to extreme cold. We conducted the present experiment to test this. MATERIALS AND METHODS The stock. Three breeds were used in this study. A Maryland strain of White Leghorns and one of New Hampshires were used in the early part of the study (November, 1956 to March, …

IN PROCESSING poultry for market, the total and relative amount of blood lost through bleeding has always been of interest from the economic standpoint as well as with respect to the appearance of the dressed poultry. Since a large percentage of the blood of the chicken’s body is located in the small veins and capillaries, much of the blood remains in the body of the bird after death. This blood is present in the carcass of the bird when consumed, the larger blood vessels appearing as black strings. The accepted value for the loss of blood and feathers is 10 to 11 percent of the body weight. The loss due to blood alone is very seldom separated from total loss. Vernon (1923), quoting U.S.D.A. Bulletin 1052, shows a loss of 3.3 to 4.0 percent due to blood for hens and broilers, respectively. Mitchell, Card, and Hamilton (1926) report similar results . . .

THE basis for genetic improvement of any population is genetic variation within that population. The type of breeding plan to be used and the improvement possible from selection on a phenotypic basis are determined by the degree of heritability of the character involved. The purpose of this study is to estimate the heritability of body weight in turkeys at various ages. The influence of environment on the expression of a complex physiological character such as growth no doubt varies with age. Since heritability is that proportion of total variance due to additive genetic variance, a change in the environmental influence, which is included in total variance, would result in a change in heritability. In the case of body weight, it is not certain that inheritance up to 8 or 12 weeks of age is the same as that responsible for later body weight or ultimate body weight. Schnetzler (1936) found…

BECAUSE of the rather widespread use of estrogen implantation as a fattening agent and because estrogen will temporarily decrease the pugnaciousness of cockerels, this experiment was conducted to determine the effect of such treatment on the future reproductive ability of birds. Asmundson (1931) injected estrogen into laying pullets without apparent effect on egg weight, egg shells, or number of eggs produced. Turner (1948) concluded that a low level of estrogen helped to maintain egg production during the normal autumn decline. The effect of estrogens on ovulation, egg production, oyster shell consumption, feed consumption and body weight was studied by Adams, McGibbon and Casida (1950). They fed the orally effective estrogens diansylhexene and dienestrol diacetate at levels ranging from .01 to .04 percent of the diet to White Leghorn pullets. The .04 percent level of either estrogen severely depressed egg production and there were indications of a disturbance of calcium metabolism.

BEFORE beginning a discussion of lethal body temperatures, it must be pointed out that there can be no sharply defined high or low body temperature that always results in death. Whether or not a certain body temperature kills the individual depends upon such factors as length of exposure to a given temperature, rate of cooling or warming, individual resistance, etc. In the experiments to be described, unusually high and low ambient air temperatures were used to eliminate as far as possible the effects of time as a factor. The potentiometer available for this study recorded temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit; to facilitate comparison, the centigrade temperatures reported by other authors have all been converted to Fahrenheit and stated to the nearest degree. There have been many reports on the effects of various environmental temperatures on the viability of the embryo, but unfortunately most authors failed to record the actual internal temperature . . .

THE success of the incubation and of the storage of eggs depends to a large extent upon egg shell quality. The stronger and thicker the shell, the less breakage that will occur on farms and in marketing channels. The specific gravity of the whole egg has been shown by Olsson (1934) to be a good measure of shell thickness. Novikoff and Gutteridge (1949), comparing the different methods of determining shell strength in eggs, concluded that the specific gravity method is the most reliable. Relatively little is known regarding the effect of the various hormones on shell thickness. Data obtained by Asmundson and Pinsky (1935), Gutteridge and Pratt (1946), Gutteridge and Novikoff (1947), Hoffmann and Wheeler (1948), Godfrey (1949), Berg and Bearse (1951), and Savage et al. (1952), showed that feeding thyroprotein to laying hens improved shell quality as measured by the specific gravity of their eggs. Hutt and Gowe (1948) …

IN RECENT years, the practice of artificially inseminating pullets and hens has increased, both as an experimental technique and in commercial production. However, the various insemination programs have been handicapped because a satisfactory method has not yet been perfected whereby fowl semen may be held for appreciable lengths of time. It seems reasonable to assume that satisfactory conditions must exist, since it is well known that some hens lay fertile eggs for a great many days after removal of the male. Crew (1926) obtained a fertile egg 32 days after removal of the male and Munro (1938a) found that sperm remained alive in the vas deferens 26 to 28 days. The success which has been realized with the storage of bull semen serves as an inspiration to poultry investigators in seeking a suitable method for the storage of fowl semen. But in poultry insemination the semen used must be of . . .

THE use of the technique of artificial insemination with chickens is at the present time limited to a few breeders and to experimental conditions. A few reports have indicated that artificial insemination of turkeys may be of practical use. The usefulness of the technique is partly limited by the fact that adequate diluents or extenders have not been developed. The number of spermatozoa per ml. of fowl semen is relatively high, so theoretically it should be possible to use rather high rates of dilution. Bull semen is normally diluted as much as 1 to 40 to 1 to 60 for the artificial insemination of dairy cows. This comparison, however, may not be justified since bull spermatozoa need to remain viable only a short time in the uterus of the cow, while in the oviduct of the hen they must remain functional for several days. The effect of diluting chicken semen . . .

HOW to increase the reproductive capacity of the most desirable males is an important problem in poultry husbandry. The process of artificial insemination is being attempted as a possible solution of the problem but the success of the process is dependent on the preservation of the viability of sperm over long periods of time. Optimum environmental conditions for the preservation of the viability of spermatozoa in vitro have not been established to date and it seemed possible that a study of various treatments might contribute to this end. From prior experimental reports at least three procedures were suggested, as follows: (1) temperature variation, (2) variation of chemical composition of the suspension media, (3) reduction of activity of sperm. Early reports indicated that the normal body temperature of the fowl was an optimum condition but more recent reports suggest that the sperm react as cold blooded animals in that they survive . . .

THERE are numerous reports in the literature that deal with the influence of high ambient temperature on the well-being and performance of laying hens. High summer temperatures are known to cause a decrease in egg production. The drop is more severe during sudden than under gradual rises in air temperature, according to Willham (1931), Hutt (1949), and Hinds (1949). Results obtained by Lee et al. (1945) with Leghorns and Australorps showed that most hens were able to withstand a 7-hour exposure to air temperatures of 105°F., but none were able to withstand 110°F. Wilson (1948) found it impossible to keep Leghorn hens alive for more than six hours under an air temperature of 105°F. Heat waves with intensities ranging from 100° to 105°F. have been reported by Hutt (1938), Wilson (1949), and Fox (1951) to cause heavy losses of laying flocks in the middle Atlantic and New England states. On…

YACOWITZ el al. (1957a) found that administration of 55 mgs. of Nystatin (Mycostatin) per kilogram of feed prevented the spread of crop mycosis (moniliasis) to chicks from controls dosed with Candida albicans cells. More recently, Nystatin has also been found to prevent crop mycosis in turkeys; and under certain conditions, growth responses have been obtained in both chickens and turkeys (Yacowitz, 1957). Also, combinations of Nystatin and chlortetracycline have been shown to prevent the growth of yeast and molds (Yacowitz et al., 1957b). An increase in the incidence of monilia infection in swine has been observed by Catron (1957) with continuous use of broad spectrum antibiotics, especially when fed at high levels. Nystatin has been effective in controlling this infection. Two experiments were conducted involving Maryland Medium White turkeys to determine the effect of Nystatin supplementation of practical-type starting and growing rations. The experiments were started in May and June . . .

This paper reports the performance of lines of White Leghorns selected solely for high and low serum cholesterol level at six weeks of age. Further details on these lines are given by Cherms et al. (1960). EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Birds of the high and low cholesterol lines and a random bred control were raised intermingled until maturity, when sixty birds from each line were placed in separate pens. Hens used for the high cholesterol line were those which had a high cholesterol level at six weeks of age, and which were from families of above average cholesterol level; they represented about 30 percent of all females of the high line. The same selection was made in the low cholesterol line but in the opposite direction. These birds were of the second through fifth selected generation and hatched in 1958 through 1961, respectively. The average numbers of sires used in producing each…

Washed chicken spermatozoa were suspended in a phosphate buffer containing various concentrations of egg yolk, milk, seminal plasma or blood serum; sperm respiration, fertility and hatchability were measured. Concentrations of 4, 8, 16 and 32% chicken or turkey egg yolk decreased the respiration rate of spermatozoa after 120 min. of incubation at 41° C., while pasteurized milk at similar concentrations stimulated oxygen uptake. Also, concentrations of 16% raw milk, 32% seminal plasma and 32% preovulation blood serum increased respiration rates. In general, fertility was not affected by most concentrations of seminal plasma, milk or turkey egg yolk. However, as the concentration of chicken egg yolk increased fertility decreased. All levels of blood serum significantly reduced the fertilizing capacity when compared to the 0% level. Hatchability was not affected by any of the additives tested.

DONALDSON et al. (1956) found that, as the ratio of energy to protein in the diet of chicks was widened, energy intake and carcass fat deposition were increased, while the body water content decreased. Day and Hill (1957) showed that growth and feed efficiency of poults were better when fed diets having a Calorie-protein ratio of 28:1 during the first eight weeks than when fed a ration with a wider ratio. Also, they found no difference in rate of gain of turkeys fed diets with ratios of 35–44:1 from 8 to 12 weeks of age. Ferguson et al. (1956) observed variations in growth rate in poults maintained on diets having equal levels of protein but different energy concentrations. Klose et al. (1952) obtained similar results. The relation of energy, fat and protein content of the diet to growth rate and body composition also was recognized in earlier work (Fraps,…

Very little research has been done on storage of turkey semen. Attempts to store undiluted turkey semen at different temperatures (Harper, 1955; Carter et al., 1957) have shown fertility to be markedly reduced even after storage periods as short as two hours. In experiments with diluted turkey semen, Moravec et al. (1954) found fertility to be lowered after storage for one to three days. Two methods have recently been devised using chicken semen (Wilcox, 1960) in which there was no reduction in fertility after storage for 8 hours. These involve the use of a phosphate buffer containing fructose, egg white, and antibiotics, and either diluting 1 to 10 and reconcen-trating before insemination or diluting 1 to 2 and inseminating in the diluted form (Wilcox, 1960). The present experiment was conducted to determine the effect on fertility of storing turkey semen in a similar manner. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Four different trials were …

In a study dealing with respiration of the hatching chick, a large number of embryos was needed which would hatch without access to the air cell. Eggs were incubated with the small end up in order to induce the malposition “head-in-small-end.” In this position the embryos have no access to the air cell. Procedure: A total of 1197 eggs was incubated small end up for five different periods of time during the first eighteen days of incubation; otherwise they were in normal positions. A small set of 117 eggs was used as a control which was set normally during these 18 days. All eggs were on their sides in the hatching trays during the last three days of incubation. They were candled on the 6th and 14th days. The relative position of shell pipping was recorded starting on the 19th day. The unhatched eggs were opened, and their embryos were …

A field report requested information on the effects of Malathion an organic phosphate insecticide, on egg quality. Harding and Quigley (1956) applied Malathion dust to litter at various rates and found that it did not affect hatchability and residues were not detected in eggs. Gaafar and Turk (1956) dusted three-week-old chicks for four successive weeks with this same compound and they found it did not affect feed intake and no signs of toxicity were observed. The literature does not reveal any investigations on the effect of this insecticide on egg quality. Therefore, it appears that information in this area is pertinent before any conclusions can be drawn on test results. Eight pens, each with a total area of 63 sq. ft., were selected for this study, four of which were treated with 4% Malathion. Each pen contained 15 White Leghorn hens on an all-mash diet. The insecticide was carefully applied . . .

The effects of hypothyroidism on semen quality have been reported by Shaffner and Andrews (1948). It was shown that the feeding of thiouracil lowered semen quality as measured by both fertility tests and laboratory criteria. On the basis of this work, it was reasoned that the feeding of thyroprotein might improve the quality and/or quantity of semen especially when fed to older males. Therefore, a preliminary study was made on the effects of mild hyperthyroidism on semen production. EXPERIMENTAL Eleven two-year-old Barred Rock males were maintained in individual cages and fed an all-mash diet. Samples of semen were collected weekly and evaluated by the techniques previously described (loc. cit.). Observations were also made on comb area and body weight. After six weeks of preliminary testing, the males were divided into two comparable groups and on April 23, 1947, treatment was begun. A group of six males was fed thyroprotein at . . .