Experimental Flock Research Articles

The Use of Calcium Pantothenate and Biotin in Practical Poult Starters

DURING the past few years an abnormal condition has been noted in groups of poults fed practical type rations. The condition usually became evident between the second and fourth week after hatching and was characterized by dermatitis, broken feathers (giving the poults a rough ragged appearance), perosis, diarrhoea, and increased mortality. Slow growth rate and lack of uniformity in the groups was commonly observed.It was noted that the condition increased in severity as the hatching season progressed. Thus heavy losses were common in groups of late hatched poults.Since many of the symptoms observed were similar to those described for deficiencies of certain B-vitamins in chicks and poults, and in view of the practical importance of the problem, it seemed desirable to study the effect of supplementing practical turkey breeding and starting rations with pure B-vitamins.EXPERIMENTAL AND RESULTSThe Bronze turkey breeding flock at the University of Alberta …

Mating and lambing in an experimental flock of merino sheep

Merino ewes, 1278 in all, representing 3 age groups, were pen-mated in 32 lots to individual rams, and a further 200 similar ewes were mated in one lot to 8 rams. The layout of the yards, the techniques employed, and the ration fed to the sheep are described. The reaction by the ewes to the unusual conditions of restraint imposed upon them during both mating and lambing were observed, and it was demonstrated that with care and attention large flocks of Merino sheep are suitable subjects for intense investigations. Data relating to incidence and duration of oestrus, the length of oestrous cycles, and performance of individual rams were recorded in detail for all animals. Extensive information on all aspects of lambing is examined. It was found that the age of the dam, within the range under observation, was associated with lamb losses, birth weight of progeny, and occurrence of multiple births, but was not associated with incidence of oestrus, conception, length of gestation, or sex ratio of progeny. Length of gestation was found to be associated with sex and birth weight of progeny but was not significantly associated with the incidence of single or multiple births.

The serological diagnosis of Johne's disease of sheep

Summary The results of a new diagnostic complement fixation test for Johne's disease among sheep are described. The antigen used was extracted from the infected intestinal mucosa. The study was carried out on an infected flock of 55 sheep. Out of 31 sheep found to be infected on slaughter, 30 had proved to be serologically positive, the remaining one not having been subjected to an adequate test. The sera from four more sheep in which no lesions could be found in the intestines, were also found to be strongly positive. One hundred and eighteen sheep from healthy areas were tested as controls. Four only of them showed serological reactions, which were very weak. Thirty-nine sheep of the experimental flock were also tested by means of the intradermal johnin test, using johnin PPD as described. Only about 50 per cent. of the infected sheep reacted to the various johnins used in the strengths mentioned in this paper.

Further Observations on the Vitamin D Requirement of Turkey Poults

IT WAS reported previously (Jukes and Sanford, 1939) that approximately 200 A.O.A.C. chick units of vitamin D per 100 grams of diet were required by turkey poults in the first 4 weeks to produce maximal calcification. Attention was drawn to the observation that turkeys and chicks might exhibit a species difference in their response to different forms of vitamin D. This species difference has been further established by the work of Willgeroth and co-workers with dihydrotachysterol (1943). The present report deals with further experiments on the response of poults to varying levels of vitamin D.EXPERIMENTALDay-old turkey poults were placed in electrically heated battery brooders in a room from which all daylight was excluded, and were fed the experimental diets immediately. Each group contained 14 birds, 7 of which were obtained from eggs laid by the University of California experimental flock (Jukes and Sanford, 1939) and 7 from a .

Phenothiazine as an Anthelmintic for Sheep

An experimental flock of sheep has been maintained at the North Florida Experiment Station Station, Quincy, since 193. A permanent pasture consisting largely of carpet grass was established to afford grazing for the sheep. During the first year no losses occurred that could be attributed to parasitic infestation. When the sheep began grazing on the permanent pasture it was hoped that through rotation of improved permanent pastures that internal parasites could be controlled. After grazing on the improved pasture area for several months losses began to occur in both lambs and mature sheep. Post mortem examinations revealed the presence of large numbers of internal parasites. A systematic program for drenching the sheep was inaugurated. The sheep, including the lambs, were drenched every 28 days with a 1 percent solution of copper sulphate and nicotine sulphate. The results obtained at first from drenching with these drugs were encouraging; however, losses continued to occur and began to increase even though treatment was given every month.

A New Salmonella type Isolated from Turkeys: Salmonella California

from 2 lots of poults hatched from eggs from different sources and placed in the experimental flock. The seventh culture was isolated from a turkey submitted for diagnosis. This poult had no connection with those in the experimental flock and represented a second outbreak of the infection. The pathological changes observed in the birds were those ordinarily found in paratyphoid infection of poults. These were described by Pomeroy and Fenstermacher.2 The organisms were motile rods which possessed morphological, tinctorial and biochemical characteristics

Seasonal Fluctuation in the Number of Eggs of Trichostrongylid Worms in the Faeces of Ewes

An account recently appeared in this journal of some work carried out by Zawadowsky and Zvjaguintzev (I933) on the seasonal fluctuations in the number of eggs of Nematodirus helvetianus in the faeces of a llama. As the observations of these investigators compare very closely with some which have been made at this experimental station on the fluctuations in the numbers of eggs of trichostrongylid worms disseminated in the faeces of ewes, it seems to be worth while recording the data, which although of no great value in themselves, give confirmation to some of the observations of Zawadowsky and Zvjaguintzev but suggest an alternative interpretation of their results. The inquiry into the amount of infective material disseminated by the ewes throughout the year was originally undertaken in order to obtain some idea of the relative importance of adult sheep as a reservoir of infection for the lambs. Ewes almost invariably carry a few trichostrongylid worms and outbreaks of disease with heavy losses amongst the adult sheep are by no means unknown. The possibility of their playing a part of major importance in producing heavy infection in the lambs, therefore, appeared to be worth a little investigation. Twelve average ewes were chosen for this purpose from the experimental station flock and samples of their faeces collected on the same day of each of sixteen consecutive months. An average egg count was made by thoroughly mixing equal weights of faeces taken from each of the twelve samples and estimating the number of eggs per gram of the mixture by a standard dilution technique. The laboratory flock grazes along with the cattle on 30 acres of good grass land. During the two seasons in which these observations were made, the lambs were born in February and March and for those two months the ewes were kept in the buildings and received hay and a little concentrated food but no grass or green food of any kind. For the remainder of the year they received no concentrated food at all but subsisted entirely upon the grass from the 30 acres of pasture. The twelve ewes were infected with species of Trichostrongylus, Ostertagia, Haemonchus, Cooperia, and Bunostomum, and although the multiple infestation detracts in part from the value of the results obtained, the similarity in the fluctuations in the egg count with those

Individuality of Pullets in Balancing the Ration

FOR the past seven years the experimental pullet flock at the Massachusetts State College has been hopper fed (free choice) both grain and mash. The flock each fall has numbered approximately 750 birds divided into three pens of 250 pullets each. Each year the hatching season (weekly hatches) ranged from the last of March to the middle of May, a period of eight weeks, and the birds were segregated according to age—house no. 1 containing the oldest; house no. 2 the intermediate, and house no. 3 the youngest. During the breeding season a number of pullets were removed from the houses and returned at the close. The offspring from eight breeding projects was quite equally distributed in the three pens. Incidentally, the production-bred group in 1931–32, averaged 238 eggs and the mortality was 18 percent. Separate open hoppers containing mash, whole corn, and whole oats, respectively, were constantly before .

Securing Early Turkeys by Stimulated Egg Production

CONFINEMENT methods of raising turkeys have been used for several years and are becoming increasingly important as diseases grow more prevalent. Information on the rate of growth and feed consumption of young turkeys is still very limited in amount. There are less experimental data to be found on such factors as production of early eggs and poults, annual egg production, inbreeding, fertility, hatchability, confinement of breeding turkeys and feed consumption of breeding turkeys. With the increased numbers of turkeys raised the last few years has come a demand for more experimental data on factors related to turkey production. So far as the authors are aware, no information is available on the production of early turkeys and confinement of breeding turkeys. This paper is a preliminary report of observations gathered from breeding turkeys.EXPERIMENTALThe data were secured from the 1931–1932 records of the experimental flock of Bronze turkeys belonging .

The blood chemistry of thyroidectomized sheep

A study of the blood chemistry of Dr. Sutherland Simpson's experimental flock has been undertaken as a part of a larger study of the metabolism of thyroidectomized sheep.The flock consists of thyroidectomized individuals and normal controls. The thyroidectomized sheep were operated on at different ages, and to some of them were later administered thyroxin, thyroid gland or sodium iodide in the course of other experimental work. These administrations were discontinued about 10 months before the beginning of this series of analyses.Some of the animals were withdrawn from the author's use for shorter or longer periods, and others were used simultaneously for other experimental work involving increased exercise. In the preliminary tests no attempt was made to control the diet of the animals in any manner. Later the uniform practice was adopted of taking the blood after a night of enforced rest in the sheep pens before the sheep were given their morning meal. Greater uniformity of results was then obtained and...

Egg-Weight as a Criterion of Numerical Production in the Domestic Fowl

Abstract In a preceding issue of this journal 2 the the writer pointed out that it had been possible to ascertain which hens were the best layers in a small group of White Plymouth Rocks, (maintained as an experimental flock at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station) by resort to a method which involved the weighing of the April or the September eggs, and by then calculating, for each individual of the flock, the relation which the mean weight of these April or September eggs bore to the mean weight of the first ten eggs laid by the same bird at the outset of her first laying year. It was pointed out that those hens which showed the highest percentage of increase in mean weight of eggs when this weight was measured at the period of the vernal or of the autumnal production maximum, were, on the average, the best producers of …

Egg-Weight as a Criterion of Numerical Production in the Domestic Fowl

Abstract In a preceding issue of this journal 2 the the writer pointed out that it had been possible to ascertain which hens were the best layers in a small group of White Plymouth Rocks, (maintained as an experimental flock at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station) by resort to a method which involved the weighing of the April or the September eggs, and by then calculating, for each individual of the flock, the relation which the mean weight of these April or September eggs bore to the mean weight of the first ten eggs laid by the same bird at the outset of her first laying year. It was pointed out that those hens which showed the highest percentage of increase in mean weight of eggs when this weight was measured at the period of the vernal or of the autumnal production maximum, were, on the average, the best producers of …