Effects of Bilateral Optic Enucleation on Body Growth and Gonad in Young Male Chicks

Abstract

This author previously noted that the young male chick without eyes develops as well as intact birds, and that the histological picture of the testes from a blinded cockerel contained spermatozoa (Ookawa, 1970). Additional data concerning influence of the enucleation on body growth and sexual organs of the male young chick will be described herein.Seven male White Leghorn chicks were used for this experiment. Four out of 7 chicks underwent bilateral enucleation on the 26th day after hatching. Survival was 100 percent after the operation. The young chicks were raised in colony breeder boxes until 17 weeks of age. Then, all birds transferred to cages (two birds of the same group in a cage). The birds were exposed to about 12 hours of light daily and about 12 hours of dark from 1 day to 139 days of age. They received mainly incandescent light (70 to 120-Lux intensity). At…