Search

The present study was conducted on the pelvic limb bones of a five year old male umbrella cockatoo. The femur was light in weight and presented a straight shaft, two extremities and four surfaces. The proximal extremity had a head with distinct fovea capitis, neck and indistinct trochanter major, while the distal extremity had a trochlea, two condyles and a wide intercondyloid groove. Patella was a small pea-sized sesamoid bone. The tibiotarsus was the largest of the leg bones and was one third longer than femur. It presented a long shaft with distinct fibular crest and two extremities. Both extremities showed medial and lateral condyles. From proximal extremity, the straight cnemial crest extended ventrally. The condyles of distal extremity were separated by intercondyloid fossa and continued caudally to wide grooved trochlea. Instead of extensor canal in other birds, a deep groove was observed. The fibula was with small head and rudimentary shaft and terminated near the middle of the shaft of tibiotarsus. The tarsometatarsus was extremely short. Its shaft presented convex dorsal surface whereas the plantar surface was concave without ridges. The distal extremity presented three articular trochleae. Between the trochlea for third and fourth digits, a bony canal was noticed. The spur core seen in cockerel was not observed in the present study. Four digits from one to four showed zygodactyl type of arrangement and contained two, three, four and five phalanges, respectively. Distal phalanx in each digit was a claw. The light femur and highly reduced fibula in umbrella cockatoo showed adaptations for flight whereas the positioning of the digits showed adaptation for climbing and grasping

Studies were conducted on 2972 failed to hatch chicken eggs with embryonic deaths to detect the various abnormalities occurring during their development. The study included descriptive examination and comparison of unhatched eggs of chicken. Objective of the experiment was to study the occurrence of abnormalities of embryos at various stages of incubation in chicks by gross examination. Of the total eggs collected, a major contribution towards lesser hatchability was accounted by infertile eggs, followed by mortality during early period, late stage and then mid-stage mortality. A significant positive correlation existed between weight, length and width of eggs. Anomalies encountered in the present study were categorized as developmental failure, developmental arrest, developmental excess including twinning and atypical differentiation with skeletal abnormalities.

Estimation of hydroxyproline and collagen in skin of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was done using skin samples procured from 12 birds each of either sex of four to six months of age. The samples were stored at -200 C and the hydroxyproline content of moisture-free and fat-free samples of the skin was estimated. From the values arrived at, the collagen content was calculated on fresh matter basis. Average content of hydroxyproline was 5.20 and 5.30 per cent in male and female turkeys respectively. Collagen content was found to be as 8.16 per cent in male and 8.14 per cent in female turkeys. On statistical analysis, significant difference was not detected in the mean percentage of hydroxyproline and collagen content between sexes. Hence, the skin of turkey with its high content of collagen can be recommended as a source for collagen production in the avian industry. Moreover, with a contribution of 8.43 to 9.65 per cent to the total carcass weight, the potentials of skin of turkey could be effectively harnessed for further processed products.