The Effect of Tranquilizers on Egg Production and Egg Shell Quality in Caged Layers

Abstract

SEVERAL reports have suggested beneficial effects of the use of tranquilizers n poultry nutrition and management practices. Burger, et al. (1959) and Fritz et al. (1959) obtained significant increases in chick growth with reserpine. Carlson (1959a) noted a similar growth response with a rapid growing strain of female broiler chicks. Meprobamate, fed at varying levels, produced a growth depression in the chick (Garren and Hill, 1957; Babcock and Taylor, 1957). Weiss (1959) reported that reserpine, injected at a level of 0.02 milligram per kilogram of body weight or fed at 2.0 milligrams per kilogram of diet, afforded laying birds protection against severe heat stress. Burger and Lorenz (1960) observed that reserpine and chlorpromazine in the diet prolonged the survival of chickens under defined conditions of experimental heat shock. Reserpine has been shown to support egg production and shell quality during and following periods of thermal stress (Van Matre et al,…