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LERNER (1950) drew attention to the need for detailed information in poultry research about non-linear interactions between genotypes and environments and the extent to which they may affect breeding programs. No interaction between strain and ration was found for weights of turkeys by Asmundson and Lerner (1940). Since then, additional results have been accumulating which indicate that, under average conditions, this phenomenon may occur for some traits but not for others, thus leaving in some doubt the practical importance of these interactions in many economic traits in poultry. For example, Gowe and Wakely (1954) found no strain-environment interaction in the egg production of several strains of White Leghorns at 6 different Dominion Experimental Stations across Canada. Johnson and Gowe (1956) reported that, in a similar test for egg quality, involving 8 White Leghorn strains, there was no interaction in the the case of albumen quality and shell strength, although a . . .

(1963). Influence of selection for body weight at different ages on growth of Turkeys. British Poultry Science: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 71-82.

EXTENSIVE studies of growth rate, body size and conformation of turkeys have established that these traits are subject to considerable genetic variation (Jaap, 1938; Asmundson and Lerner, 1940; Asmundson, 1944, 1945, 1948; Asmundson and Pun, 1954a, b). Most of the heritability estimates of body weight of turkeys range from a low of .16 to a high of .62, the majority being from .35 to .50 (Abplanalp and Kosin, 1952; Goodman, Brunson and Godfrey, 1954; Bumgardner and Shaffner, 1954; McCartney, 1955; Kondra and Shoffner, 1956). The variation in these estimates may be due to differences in age or strain of turkey, or, in part, to differences in experimental technique. Heritability of body measurements (shank length, keel length, breast width and breast depth), as reported by Abplanalp and Kosin (1952) for turkeys at 26 weeks of age, ranged from about .13 to .51, while similar estimates presented by Kondra and Shoffner (1956) …

PAYNE et al. (1957) have reported a correlation of +0.39 between body weight of turkey hens and the weight of their egg. Funk (1950), however, did not observe a consistent difference in numbers of eggs laid by hens differing in body weight. Fertility and hatchability were found to be correlated negatively with body weight by Kondra and Shoffner (1950). Fertility was related to posture in males according to Robblee et al. (1957). Rooney (1957), by using artificial insemination at relatively long intervals, was able to estimate the incidence of natural mating occurring in Broad Breasted Bronze hens. Selection at different ages for increased body weight at maturity (Abplanalp et al., 1963) provided several lines of turkeys on which the effect of selection for body weight on reproduction was tested. MATERIALS AND METHODS Parental stock was selected from Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys using weight as the main criterion. The selection of…

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 principal aim and purpose of this investigation has been to collect data which would prove useful in evaluating the inherent fecundity of the male turkey. With this objective in mind the experiment was designed to yield quantitative data for semen production which would furnish information about sexual maturity and about rate and continuity of semen production. Such data might be expected to furnish information about fertility in this species and thus facilitate improvement through selective breeding. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Basic to the present study is a suitable technique for obtaining avian semen from the male. The techniques for obtaining semen from fowl originated with the work of Ivanov (1913) who squeezed semen from the vas deferens of freshly killed males. Semen was collected immediately after the hen was mated, from the cloaca (Payne, 1914) and from an attached artificial cloaca (Ishsikawa, 1930) or from a semen collector (Parker, 1939)… .

IN RECENT years much attention has been given to measurements of the tarsometatarsus of different species of poultry as a criterion of the comparative length of the bones of different birds and as a criterion of the growth of the skeleton in relation to the growth of the entire body (Lerner, 1941). The length of the tarsometatarsus has also been used to indicate differences in conformation of different strains of turkeys (Jaap, 1938). MATERIALS AND METHODS The problem is to determine whether the relative growth of the shank (tarsometatarsus) differs in the several strains available for study. The stock available comprised three strains of Bronze: A, an ordinary strain of medium-small size; B, an improved, somewhat larger strain; C, a broad-breasted, comparatively large strain—and other varieties with their hybrids as indicated in Table 1. The White and Black-winged Bronze were comparable in mature weight to Bronze Strain B, while . . .

SEVEN separate blood group systems in turkeys have been reported (Law et al., 1965; Stevens and Asmundson, 1967). The A and C systems contained six and three phenogroups respectively, and five other systems were detected by reactions with antisera labelled F, J, K, L and Q. This report is concerned with a statistical evaluation of the relationships of blood groups with economically important traits of turkeys. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two sepearate populations of turkeys maintained on the Davis campus of the University of California were used in this study. Population A (lines 600, 610, 611, 630 and 640) was derived from a commercial strain of Broad Breasted Bronze (BBB) turkeys in 1950. It consisted of controls and groups selected for body weight and early semen production (Abplanalp et al., 1963; Ogasawara et al., 1963). Population B was composed of birds derived from the cross of the domestic turkey (M. gallopavo) . . .

IT HAS been pointed out by Ludwig (1929) that most of the equations purporting to represent growth can be reduced to four types. With k standing for a constant, t for time, w for body weight, At for time at completion of growth and Aw for final weight, these four types can be expressed as follows: 1 I . φ = k ( A t − t ) , when rate of growth is considered proportional to the time remaining for completion of growth; 2 II . φ = k ( A w − w ) , when rate of growth is proportional to the weight to be gained; 3 III . φ = k t

QUANTITATIVE characters such as body weight, width of breast, length of shank and length of keel vary considerably within strains and varieties. Various strains of Bronze turkeys also differ significantly from each other in these characters (Asmundson 1944). The differences between varieties and strains are inherited (Knox and Marsden 1944, Asmundson 1945) and at least in the case of breast width there is some variation which is independent of weight of bird, although here, as in the case of length of keel and shank, there is correlation with weight (Asmundson 1944). For length of shank Jaap (1938) has estimated that 25.3 percent of the male and 39.0 percent of female variance is caused by heredity. The present series of experimental matings was started to obtain data on the mode of inheritance of weight and conformation by using strains of Bronze turkeys that differ widely in weight and width of breast. . . .

Growth of four muscles was studied in four lines of homozygous dystrophic chickens selected for high or low fat content of pectoralis muscles, or for early or late onset of disability. The light (“white”) pectoralis, supracoracoideus and biceps brachii and the dark (“red”) adductor muscles were studied. Growth characteristics were compared to a randomly mated dystrophic line and to normal chickens. Significant differences in muscle size occurred between lines but all dystrophic lines underwent the same sequence of events: gross hypertrophy of the white muscles during the first few weeks of life, followed enventually by gross atrophy. The dark adductor muscles did not differ consistently from normal. Hypertrophy was accompanied by increased protein (or fat-free dry matter) and water content. Atrophy was accompanied by increased fat content. Selected lines exhibited greater uniformity and greater extremes of hypertrophy or atrophy than occurred in the random line.

Several samples of animal protein concentrates, which had been tested biologically with the chick and chemically in the determination of protein quality index (Almquist et al., 1935; Almquist, 1941), were used in a poult ration devised for protein quality testing. The purpose of this work was to ascertain whether the poult would respond to protein concentrate quality variation in a manner similar to that of the chick. Poults were reared for two weeks on a practical diet, then weighed and distributed into groups of 10 each of approximately the same average weight and distribution of weights (as nearly as possible). They were then given the following basal diet: Wheat bran, 10.0 parts by weight; ground wheat, 20.0; ground yellow corn, 20.0; ground barley, 20.0; alfalfa meal 7.5; brewers’ yeast, 5.0; crude soybean oil, 3.5; salt, 1.0; ground limestone, 1.5; steamed bonemeal 1.0; fish oil (400-D), 0.5; manganese sulfate, 0.03. A . . .

SummaryPyridoxine deficiency in turkeys is characterized by loss of appetite, poor growth, apathy, hyperexcitability when disturbed, convulsions, and death. Pyridoxine prevented the deficiency symptoms.