Athens-Canadian Randombred Research Articles

Evaluation of the Athens-Canadian Randombred Population: 1. Time Trends at Two Locations

THE importance of control populations for separating genetic and environmental effects has been well documented (Dickerson, 1955; Gowe and Johnson, 1956; King et al., 1959; Goodwin et al., 1960). Although considerable information is available regarding egg-type control populations (King, 1961; King et al., 1963; Clayton and Robertson, 1966; Kinney et al., 1968), only limited data are available for meat-type controls (Jaap et al., 1962; Merritt and Gowe, 1962; Merritt, 1966, 1968).Hess (1962) described the development and maintenance of the Athens Canadian (A.C.) randombred meat-type population of chickens. Since this population is widely used it would be valuable to have information on production characteristics and possible time trends of various quantitative traits. Since time trends in control populations can be influenced by genetic (natural selection, genetic drift, inbreeding) and directional environmental changes, evaluation of these trends may not provide a critical measure of the reliability of these populations. Nevertheless, evaluation…

Effect of Environmental Temperature on Iron Deficiency Anemia in Athens-Canadian Randombred Chicks

OLSON (1937) reported that erythrocyte number in the domestic fowl increased during the winter. Winter (1935) found that during cold weather the hemoglobin content of the blood of hens increased significantly. Huston (1960, 1965) compared the packed erythrocyte volume of birds in controlled temperature environments and found that it increased in the colder environmental temperatures. Deficiencies of various nutrients, including iron and copper may also result in anemia which can be produced experimentally by feeding a skim milk diet deficient in iron and copper (Hill and Matrone, 1961). Since both environmental temperature and iron-copper deficiencies affect the packed erythrocyte volume, the magnitude of interaction between the two in their effect on hematology could become important. The purpose of this study was to compare the changes in packed erythrocyte volume of chickens receiving various levels of iron and copper and exposed to different environmental temperatures.EXPERIMENTALFive hundred day-old Athens-Canadian randombred .

Studies on Acute Marek's Disease: 9. Resistance to MD by inoculation with the GA isolate

Cole (1968) recently reported that hereditary differences among existing strains of White Leghorns, among sire and dam families within strain and between lines selected for resistance to Marek's disease (MD) are so great that the use of genetic resistance appears to offer an excellent method for its control. He concluded that by using the JM strain of Marek's disease, resistant sire families can be identified with a fair degree of accuracy without the postmortem examination. The purpose of this report is to provide information on the relative differences in resistance to MD as measured by mortality and lesions of the Athens-Canadian randombred (ACRB) stock inoculated with the GA isolate of MD.METHODSA parental population was obtained using 1,400 one-day-old pedigree chicks, representing 30 single sire families of the ACRB population (Hess, 1962). These chicks were injected intra-abdominally with 0.1 ml. of GA-infective plasma (Eidson and Schmittle, 1968). Birds dying .

The Influence of Protein Source on the Response of Chicks to Corn Oil ,

Abstract A HIGHLY significant response in chick growth to soybean oil has been shown by Campbell and Hill (1962) when diets contained either soybean protein, fish flour, egg albumen or blood fibrin as sources of protein. The following study was conducted in our laboratory in an effort to relate the growth response of chicks to corn oil to the lipid content of 3 different dietary proteins and to the fatty acid content of the chicks’ liver. Soybean protein, casein-gelatin, and heated egg albumen were used as protein sources. The soybean protein was used as prepared commercially and after extraction in our laboratory with hot methanol. EXPERIMENTAL Day-old Athens-Canadian Randombred male chicks were randomly allotted into pens of 12 each. Two pens were allotted to each of 8 diet treatments. The chicks were housed in electrically heated battery brooders and maintained for 4 weeks with ad libitum feeding. The treatments consisted of…

Time Responses to Single Intramuscular Doses of ACTH in Chickens

IN A study of factors which modify responses to ACTH in chickens, a preliminary experiment was initiated to determine the responses over time to a single intramuscular injection of corticotropin. Weight changes of the adrenal, spleen and bursa of Fabricius, and changes in the concentrations of adrenal cholesterol, plasma cholesterol, glucose and non-protein nitrogen were observed over a 36-hour period.METHODSForty Athens-Canadian Randombred × White Plymouth Rock males were grown in batteries to 46 days of age. At that time, 4 were randomly designated as pre-injected controls. The remainder were randomly divided into 2 groups of 18 birds each, which were designated as injected controls and experimentals. At hour zero, all chicks of the experimental group received 3 U.S.P. units of corticotropin (ACTH)* per 100 g. of body weight in a 16% aqueous gelatin solution (w/v) injected into the pectoralis area. At the same time, the injected controls received …