The Effect of Feeding Diethylstilbestrol to Cockerels

Abstract

LORENZ (1943) reported that implantations of pellets of diethylstilbestrol increased both the total amount of abdominal fat and the per cent fat in breast and leg muscle of cockerels. This author (1944) reported similar results in turkeys although the results were not so marked as they were in chickens. Jaap and Thayer (1944) observed that amounts of diethylstilbestrol up to 100 mg. failed to produce sufficient effect to be of practical use in fattening chickens when the product was given by mouth. In another report, Thayer, Jaap and Penquite (1944) showed that when diethylstilbestrol was added to the feed in a concentration of 23 mg. per pound, its fattening effect was extremely low when fed for four weeks to eight weeks old fryers and old cock birds showed only slight improvement over controls even when fed for five weeks at a 200 mg. level. The dimethyl ether of stilbestrol, however, .