White Rock Chickens Research Articles

Addition of Dimethyl Sulfoxide to Chick Rations ,

Interest in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)2 as a chemotherapeutic agent has been noted by Jacob et al. (1964). Possible medical uses cited for DMSO were: penetrant carrier, local analgesic agent, anti-inflammatory adjunct, bacteriostatic agent, diuretic, tranquilizer and potentiator of other compounds. Narula (1964) has observed increased body weights when DMSO was added to the water of rats fed diets high in carbohydrates and fat but no stimulatory effect from DMSO was observed on a standard stock diet and, in fact, with a high protein diet decreased body weights were obtained. As a result, a number of experiments have been conducted in this laboratory using DMSO as a dietary supplement to ascertain if growth stimulatory properties are evident for chicks. One of these experiments is reported here.Duplicate lots of 12 Vantress × Cobb White Rock chicks equalized for sex were fed the levels of DMSO shown in Table 1. The chicks…

Effect of radiothyroidectomy in chicks with emphasis on glycogen body and liver

White Rock chicks injected with 1.5 mc I 131/100 gm at 5 or 9 days and autopsied from 8 to 43 days later were considered severely hypothyroid by several criteria. Glycogen-body weight was reduced in one experiment but not in another. Glycogen concentration in the glycogen body was not affected. Liver weights of radiothyroidectomized birds were the same as the control, but on a per cent body weight basis the livers were significantly enlarged. Values for liver glycogen in the radiothyroidectomized birds were high and remained high in chicks fasted 18 hours. Radiothyroidectomy had little effect on blood glucose or muscle glycogen. Weights of testes, combs, and spleens were definitely decreased in the hypothyroid birds, whereas the adrenal weights were similar to the controls despite the marked body weight differences.

The Relative Abilities of Two Breeds of Chickens and Two Varieties of Turkeys to Metabolize Dietary Energy and Dietary Nitrogen

DIFFERENCES in dietary requirements between breeds and strains of birds have been reviewed recently (Sibbald and Slinger, 1963a). It was suggested that differences in requirements may be due to a number of factors including genetic variations in the ability to digest and/or absorb nutrients. These workers presented evidence to show that the strain of White Leghorn chicks used, metabolized more energy per unit of feed than did the strain of White Rock chicks employed.While the nutritive requirements of chickens and turkeys differ widely, evidence has been presented (Slinger et al., 1962a, b) to suggest that metabolizable energy (M.E.) values derived with chicks have reasonably good application in estimating the M.E. content of turkey diets. Direct evidence on this point, however, is lacking. EXPERIMENTAL METHODSThe present experiment was designed to determine the M.E. and metabolizable nitrogen (M.N.) contents of a high and a low energy diet using two breeds…

Comparison of the Requirements of Battery and Floor Grown Chicks for Calcium and Phosphorus

IT HAS recently been reported that the phosphorus requirement is higher for laying hens maintained in cages than for those maintained on litter in floor pens (Crowley et al., 1961; Harms et al., 1961; Marr et al., 1961; and Singsen et al., 1961). It has been suggested that hens on litter may be getting phosphorus from eating feces.The calcium and phosphorus requirement of chicks were established primarily from experiments carried out in batteries with raised wire floors. Therefore, in view of the above mentioned reports it seemed desirable to determine whether this difference in requirements existed for battery and floor grown chicks.EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURETwo experiments were conducted to determine if the requirement of battery grown chicks for calcium and phosphorus differs from the requirement of chicks grown on litter in floor pens.The Vantress × White Rock chicks used in these experiments were sexed, and intra-ocularly vaccinated for …

The Availability to the Chick of Zinc as the Sulfate, Oxide or Carbonate ,

ROBERSON and Schaible (1958a) reported that both the chloride and sulfate of zinc at a hundred ppm. in a glucose-soybean protein diet prevented zinc deficiency symptoms and permitted normal growth and feed conversion in the growing chick. Pensack et al. (1958) stated that the carbonate, oxide, chloride or proteinate of zinc were equally available to the chick when added to a cerelose-casein-gelatin diet with variable calcium:phosphorus ratios.The purpose of this study was to determine the relative availabilities of the carbonate, oxide or sulfate of zinc when added at minimal levels to a purified, soybean type ration of otherwise normal mineral content. From previous work it was assumed that twenty ppm. of zinc was adequate for the chick when the zinc was available (Roberson and Schaible, 1958a; O’Dell et al., 1958; and Moeller and Scott, 1958).EXPERIMENTALMale White Rock chicks, one-day of age, were allotted on the basis of …

Establishment and distribution of Raillietina cesticillus in the fowl and comparative studies on amino acid metabolism of R. cesticillus and Hymenolepis diminuta

1. 1. The establishment and distribution of Raillietina cesticillus in White Rock chickens was followed for 0, 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, and 17 days after inoculation. The cestode was found first to establish anterior to the Ampulla of Vater. By the third day the tapeworm was distributed along the first 14 centimeters posterior to the opening of the bile ducts, where it remained during its adult life in the intestine. These movements were compared to those of Hymenolepis diminuta and Moniliformis dubius. 2. 2. The free amino acid and protein fractions of Raillietina were analyzed by paper chromatography, and compared to analyses of Hymenolepis. The latter worm contained a greater amount of free amino acid than the former and an especially larger amount of taurine. Raillietina had a particularly large amount of proline. The protein hydrolysates of the two worms were very similar. 3. 3. The following transaminase reactions were found in Raillietina, listed in order of decreasing activity: glutamate to aspartate and aspartate to glutamate; alanine to glutamate and glutamate to alanine (with oxalacetic acid); and glutamate to alanine. In comparison to the activity of H. diminuta, determined directly and by previous studies, the activity of the two most active reactions in Raillietina was approximately one-half that found in Hymenolepis. In addition, Hymenolepis also possessed an equally active alanine to glutamic acid system as well as the two systems mentioned above. 4. 4. The importance of the particular position of worms in the intestine was discussed, and the significance of the transaminase reactions to cestodes was pointed out.

Zinc Requirement Studies with Practical Rations

STUDIES on the zinc requirement of chicks by Young, Edwards and Gillis (1958) using a purified diet has shown that not more than 55 ppm. zinc was required for maximum rate of growth. Mehring, Brumbaugh and Titus (1956) studied the effect of supplementing a practical corn-soybean meal type diet with zinc. Their basal diet contained 36 ppm. zinc, and the drinking water supplied additional zinc to give a total zinc intake of 42–45 ppm. for chicks fed the basal diet. Further increases to approximately 820 ppm. failed to stimulate or depress growth.Since simple practical type corn-soybean meal diets contain approximately 40 ppm. of zinc it seemed possible that under certain conditions zinc supplementation may be necessary for maximum rate of growth. Therefore the following studies were carried out to obtain more information on the need for zinc supplementation in practical diets.EXPERIMENTALDay old White Rock chicks were used …

Selenium and development of exudative diathesis in chicks.

SummaryTwo experiments have been conducted with White Rock and New Hampshire chicks concerning effects of selenium, Vit. E and dried brewers yeast on occurrence of exudative diathesis, and of these substances on blood changes associated with Vit. E deficiency. Selenium (selenate) at 0.1 ppm was effective in reversing the lowered red blood cell counts, lowered hemoglobin values, lowered serum protein levels, and the reduced A/G ratios associated with exudative diathesis. As this level was increased to 1 ppm the total blood changes were not as greatly affected as with feeding of 0.1 ppm level, apparently due to the toxicity of selenium.

Comparative Histochemical Studies on Cestodes: II. The Distribution of Fat Substances in Hymenolepis diminuta and Raillietina cesticillus

Hymenolepis diminuta were raised in the laboratory in adult male Sprague-Dawley white rats given 2 cysticercoids each 2 to 3 months previous to their sacrifice for experiments. The cysticercoids were raised in adult Tenebrio molitor bred in the laboratory. The rats were maintained on a diet of Purina Laboratory Chow and weighed between 300 and 500 grams at sacrifice. Raillietina cesticillus were raised in White Rock chickens of mixed sexes, 22 days of age at infection, maintained on a diet of standard commercial growing mash. Each chicken was given 10 cysticercoids which had been reared in laboratory-bred Tribolium sp. The number of worms recovered after 19 to 37 days of infection varied from 2 to 9. Only normalappearing, mature worms which showed evidence of apolysis were used in this study. For non-specific demonstration of lipid material, the worms were fixed in formol-calcium, and 1-cm lengths were embedded in gelatin, sectioned at 10 microns on the freezing-microtome, and stained with Sudan Black B. Control sections were extracted in acetone at room temperature. For demonstration of phospholipids, the acid-hematin method (Baker, 1946) was used. Controls were extracted by incubation in pyridine (as described by Baker). As an additional control, the adrenal glands of white rats were carried through the procedure along with the tapeworm tissues. These gave staining-reactions identical to those obtained by others in this laboratory.

Immunity and tolerance of chickens to the roundworm, Ascaridia galli (Schrank)

This study was undertaken in an attempt to clarify the concepts of immunity and tolerance with regard to Ascaridia galli and to determine whether the accepted theory of immunity is compatible with experimental observations on this nematode. The study used 348 White Rock chickens. A total of 2,105 worms was recovered from the experimentally parasitized groups. Chickens injected intraperitoneally with immune serum and subsequently parasitized harbored an average of almost twice as many worms as did untreated but parasitized chickens. The manifestation of immunity in chickens against A. galli was an increase in the number of worms which were capable of becoming established within the host. Chickens injected with normal serum, obtained from chickens that were 3 weeks older than the recipient chickens, and subsequently parasitized harbored a greater average number of worms than did untreated but parasitized chickens. An age immunity in chickens against A. galli was indicated. Parasitized chickens, injected with either immune serum or normal serum, maintained a rate of growth comparable to that made by parasite-free chickens and greater than that made by untreated but parasitized chickens, while allowing a larger number of worms to survive than did the untreated, parasitized chickens. There was an age tolerance in chickens toward A. galli since the weight gains made by both groups of injected chickens could be attributed only to the effects of normal serum from older chickens. This tolerance is apparently associated with serum components. The differences in the lengths of the worms recovered from the three parasitized groups of chickens could not be attributed to any factor other than chance variation. The use of worm lengths as a criterion for judging relative “resistance” or immunity of chickens to A. galli was not a valid procedure in this study, except that the lack of differences in worm lengths indicated the absence of an interference with the nutrition of the parasites. The regression of log weights gains upon body length gains of the chickens as a measure of relative growth and tolerance of parasitism added nothing beyond the information available from weight gains alone. Possible modifications of the existing theory of immunity are discussed.

Animal Fat in Combination with Various Other Ingredients in Broiler Rations

THE use of detergents in the place of soap has caused a surplus of animal fat to accumulate. Kraybill (1953) reported that this surplus amounted to approximately one billion pounds at the end of 1953, and he quoted R. H. Ewell of the Stanford Research Institute as predicting an annual surplus of 1.1 billion pounds by 1957.This surplus fat should be a satisfactory ingredient in formula feeds, but only a limited number of feeding experiments have been reported which demonstrate the actual value of the particular types of fat available for use at the present time.Siedler and Schweigert (1952) fed 2, 4 and 8 percent levels of stabilized choice white grease to New Hampshire and White Rock chicks in separate battery feeding trials to 9 weeks of age. None of the levels of grease fed affected body weight, but feed efficiency was improved in all instances. The improvement …

Electron Microscopy of Erythrocytes from Chickens Affected with Chronic Respiratory Disease

THE Tucker strain of chronic respiratory disease virus was demonstrated by Reagan et al. (1951) to contain virus-like filaments which had an average width of 53 mμ. The virus appeared to be morphologically similar in size and shape to the causative agent of infectious sinusitis of turkeys.Electron micrographs of 4 chronic respiratory disease strains were presented by Reagan et al. (1953) and demonstrated virus-like filaments measuring in width between 50–60 mμ. in 3 of the strains. Bodies designated as X-bodies varying somewhat in diameter were also demonstrated in 3 of the strains.The present study was undertaken in order to determine if the agent causing chronic respiratory disease could be demonstrated in association with the erythrocytes of chickens who were infected with the virus under natural conditions.MATERIALS AND METHODSTwo 8-week-old White Rock chickens were removed from a flock of 7,000 birds which were breeders for a …

Factors Associated with the Movement of Calcium from the Food to the Bones of Chicks

THE influence of vitamin D on absorption of calcium has been reported from numerous laboratories. Migicovsky and Emslie (1949 Migicovsky and Emslie (1950) demonstrated that vitamin D affects the absorption and excretion of calcium in chicks but has no effect on the skeletal deposition of an injected dose of calcium. Migicovsky and Nielson (1951) also reported that the amount of Ca45 appearing in the tibiae of chickens, following an intramuscular injection of Ca45 was directly proportional to the quantity injected and that vitamin D slightly decreased the quantity of Ca45 appearing in the bone. Excess phosphate in the gut did not appear to interfere with calcium absorption.The results reported in this manuscript were obtained during studies on factors other than vitamin D which influence the mineralization of bones in chicks. EXPERIMENTALDay-old White Leghorn cockerels, Rhode Island Red cockerels and White Rock chicks of both sexes were used during these studies. The …

The Use of the Chick in Titration of Diphtheria Antitoxin

Summary Twelve commercial diphtheria antitoxins have been titrated in eight day old White Rock chicks. Repeated tests give unit values with no more than 3% variation. Such a titration was also used for small amounts of antitoxin in the serum of guinea pigs immunized with toxoids. Twelve toxoids were studied in this way. Both the commercial antitoxins and the sera from toxoid-immunized animals were also titrated in guinea pigs by the official guinea pig test recommended by the Laboratory of Biologics Control of the National Institutes of Health. The unit values obtained by the two methods were approximately the same. Evidence to support the validity of these titrations in chicks is found in the straight lines obtained when the amount of toxin and antitoxin neutralized at various unit levels are plotted on log-log paper. Under circumstances where large numbers of tests are required and satisfactory guinea pigs are difficult to obtain, the chick test affords a convenient and reliable tool for use in the study of diphtheria.

Effects of aureomycin and vitamin B 12 used separately as feed supplements on resistance of chickens to Ascaridia galli (Schrank)

1. 1. A total of 512 non-sexed White Rock chicks was divided into eight groups and all were fed an all-plant-protein basal diet. The ration for six of the groups was supplemented with aureomycin or vitamin B 12, or a combination of both. Half of the chicks in each of the four diet groups were fed 100 ± 10 embryonated eggs of A. galli in order to investigate the effects of the supplements in the diet on this fowl ascarid. 2. 2. The highest mortality rate and incidence of infection occurred among the chicks fed only the basal ration, whereas, there were no deaths and a much lower incidence of infection among the chicks fed the supplemented basal ration. 3. 3. The simultaneous use of aureomycin and vitamin B 12 significantly stimulated the growth of the chicks regardless of whether they were parasitized. However, in order to aid in obtaining additional growth responses from feeds fortified with these supplements, ascarids must be controlled. 4. 4. Very small differences in feed efficiencies of the various diets was noted. There was some indication that ascariasis decreased the feed efficiency of the ration supplemented with a combination of aureomycin-vitamin B 12. 5. 5. Whereas aureomycin and/or vitamin B 12 reduced the numbers of ascarids in the chicks, the aureomycin restricted the rate of growth of the ascarids and vitamin B 12 stimulated their growth. When these supplements were used together their effects on the growth of the worms was nullified.

Value of Progesterone and Estradiol on Growth and Finish in Broilers

Numerous estrogenic compounds (stilbestrol, diethylstilbestrol, hexestrol, dienestrol) have been extensively used to improve carcass quality and appearance of poultry. More recently, experimental work has shown that the combination of progesterone and stilbestrol administered by pellet implantation causes an increased rate of growth, improved feed efficiency and a superior quality of finish in lambs (Galloway, Bratzler, Blakeslee and Meites, 1952). If these effects could be duplicated in broilers it would be beneficial to the poultry industry. Consequently, a pilot test was set up to test the effectiveness of these hormones, singly and in combination.Five groups of ten females and five groups of ten male White Rock chickens, seven weeks of age, were implanted subcutaneously on the dorsum of the neck near the base of the skull with the hormones listed in Table 2. The birds were placed in growing batteries and fed the practical high-energy broiler mash shown in Table 1… .

Crosses Involving Dominant and Recessive White in Combination with Colors and Patterns

SINCE Lippincott (1921) found the gene for dominant white (I) in a strain of White Plymouth Rocks, a number of strains of that variety have been analyzed as well as strains of other recessive white (cc) breeds and varieties. Quinn (1936) performed analyses on strains of White Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Whites, White Silkies and White Rose Comb Bantams. Jaap (1942) presented an interpretation accounting for gray in the down of White Rock chicks. He concluded that gray or smokiness in the down occurred only when gene E was carried in the genotype of the chick. Jeffrey (1947) reported his analyses of five strains of White Rocks and one strain of White Wyandottes. He supported Jaap in regard to the cause of smokiness in the down of White Rock chicks. Jeffrey also pointed out that red tints in the down of recessive white chicks apparently had no relation .

Castor Bean Oil Meal: I. Destruction of the Toxic Factor

INTRODUCTIONTHE poisonous nature of the castor bean has long been recognized. Toxic properties have been ascribed to at least three constituents of the castor bean, namely ricin, ricinine, and an allergen. The reader is referred to the recent review by D. Breese Jones (1947) for further discussion of the toxicity of the castor bean and attempts to destroy the toxic factor.Jones (1947) suggested, since ricin was inactivated by boiling, that “it would appear that castor bean meal might be made safe for feeding purposes by steaming or by some other suitable heat treatment.” Studies were therefore carried out to test this hypothesis. Other methods which might detoxify defatted castor meal were also investigated.EXPERIMENTALDefatted castor bean meal2 was prepared by crushing the beans and repeatedly extracting with petroleum ether. This material, as prepared or after further treatment as indicated later, was fed to day-old White Rock chicks .