Improvement of dietary protein utilisation in chicks by medium chain triglyceride

1. To improve the influence of variation of ME intake, an experiment was carried out using equalised feeding to investigate the comparative effects on protein and energy utilisation in chicks of diets containing medium chain triglyceride (MCT) and long chain triglyceride (LCT). Experimental diets were given at 3 different food intakes, namely, 100, 120 or 147 g/bird/10 d. The diets contained MCT or LCT on an isoenergetic basis. Maize oil and caprylic acid triglyceride respectively, were used as LCT and MCT sources.

2. Body weight gain and food efficiency of chicks significantly increased with the supplement of dietary MCT compared with dietary LCT at all food intakes. Protein retention and the efficiency of protein utilisation (protein retained/protein intake) at all food intakes also significantly increased with dietary MCT, while body fat and fat retention were significantly reduced. Chicks fed the LCT‐supple‐mented diet, on the other hand, had a lower protein retention, but significantly higher fat retention. The value for energy retention and the efficiency of energy utilisation (energy retained/ME intake) were not significantly different between MCT‐ and LCT‐supplemented diets.

3. It was concluded that supplementing MCT to the chick diet would improve body weight gain and protein utilisation while regulating fat deposition compared to the LCT supplemented diet, under equalised feeding conditions.     

Feeding behaviour in chickens given diets containing medium chain triglyceride

1. The effect of dietary medium chain triglyceride (MCT) on short‐term food intake was compared with the effect of long chain triglyceride (LCT) in chickens. Maize oil was used as the LCT while glyceryl tricaprylate (C 8) and glyceryl tricaprate (C 10) were used as MCT. Cumulative food intake was determined during the 6 h after the start of feeding.

2. Chicks were given diets containing 200 g C 8/kg diet, 200 g C 10/kg diet or 200 g LCT/kg diet in experiment 1. As early as 30 min after feeding, cumulative food intake in both MCT‐supplemented diets decreased significantly compared with the diet containing LCT.

3. To determine if endogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) was responsible for the decrease in food intake caused by MCT, birds were injected with the CCK‐A receptor antagonist devazepide (DVZ, 1 mg/kg BW) before diet presentation. DVZ had no effect on food intake with either LCT‐ or MCT‐supplemented diets.

4. In experiment 3, chicks were given a choice between either diets containing LCT and C 8, LCT and C 10, or C 8 and C 10 to confirm whether or not the palatability of the diets was influenced by the dietary fat sources. There was no difference in food intake between C 8 and C 10‐supplemented diets. However, chicks preferred the LCT‐supplemented diet compared with either of the diets containing MCT.     

Protein synthesis measured in the whole body of chick embryos cultured in vitro

1. Whole body protein synthesis was measured in chick embryos cultured in vitro. On day 7 of incubation chick embryos were cultured for 60 min in synthetic serum‐free medium containing 4‐[³H]phenylalanine. Specific radioactivities in free and protein‐bound phenylaline in the whole embryo were measured, starting 2 min after commencement of the culture process.

2. The values for fractional synthesis rate (FSR) estimated in vitro at 20, 30, 45 and 60 min during the embryo culture agreed well, ranging from 35 to 40%/d, suggesting that the method would serve as a useful model for studying the effect of growth promoters in chick embryos.

3. Bovine insulin in the synthetic medium did not affect FSR of protein in chick embryos cultured in vitro.     

Influence of ascorbic acid on the adverse effect of feeding a diet containing excess tyrosine to chicks

1. The effects of dietary or parenteral administration of ascorbic acid on the adverse effects of excess dietary tyrosine were investigated with young male White Leghorn chicks in a 2‐week experiment.

2. Addition of 10 g ascorbic acid/kg to the control diet (without excess tyrosine) produced no beneficial effects on performance. Excess dietary tyrosine caused depressions in all measures of performance.

3. Adding 0.1, 1, 10 or 20 g ascorbic acid/kg to the diet containing excess tyrosine tended to improve performance.

4. Subcutaneous injection of 50 mg ascorbic acid/bird d to chicks receiving excess tyrosine brought about a significant improvement in body‐weight gain.

5. The elevation of plasma free tyrosine caused by excess dietary tyrosine decreased as dietary ascorbic acid increased.

6. Ascorbic acid can alleviate, though not completely counteract, the adverse effect of excess dietary tyrosine.     

Some factors affecting urinary and Faecal nitrogen loss by chickens fed on a protein‐free diet

1. In adult colostomised cockerels, the rates of urinary and faecal nitrogen loss were measured when feeding low‐ and high‐energy, protein‐free diets after a preliminary period during which diets of differing energy and protein contents had been fed.

2. Urinary nitrogen excretion increased with increasing protein and decreasing energy in the preliminary diet.

3. Urinary nitrogen excretion was high during the first 3 d of feeding a high‐energy, protein‐free diet, decreased rapidly during the next 3 d and thereafter become relatively constant. However, in the case of a low‐energy, protein‐free diet, urinary nitrogen excretion gradually declined throughout the trial period of 15 d, resulting in increased urinary nitrogen excretion.

4. After a 3‐d period of adjustment faecal nitrogen loss from birds fed on a protein‐free diet was relatively constant under the conditions examined.     

The nitrogen‐sparing effect of methionine in chicks receiving a protein‐free diet supplemented with arginine: Effect of various methionine substituents

1. The nitrogen‐sparing effect of methionine in chicks fed on a protein‐free diet containing arginine was examined in three 10‐d trials. Chicks received either a protein‐free diet, this diet supplemented with arginine and methionine or diets containing arginine in which the methionine was replaced by various methionine‐related compounds.

2. Body‐weight changes, nitrogen retentions and uric acid‐nitrogen excretion indicated that the methyl moiety was unlikely to contribute to nitrogen sparing activity and that cysteine, or possibly glutathione, played an important role. The possible mechanism of the nitrogen‐sparing effect is discussed.     

Method of colostomy and cannulation of the chicken

1. A procedure for colostomising birds from 3 weeks to 5 months of age is described.

2. A plastic cannula was inserted into the fistula 10 d after surgery to keep it open.

3. Provided that the cannula was changed regularly at 10‐d intervals there was no constipation or dilation of the intestine.     

Basic characterization of avian β‐defensin genes in the Japanese quail,Coturnix japonica

In this study, we identified a cluster of 14 avian β‐defensins (AvBD; approximately 66 kbp) in the Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica. Except for AvBD12 (CjAvBD12) and ‐13, the CjAvBDs coding sequences exhibited greater than 78.0% similarity to the respective orthologous chicken AvBD genes (GgAvBD). The putative amino acid sequence encoded by each CjAvBD contained six cysteine residues and the GXC (X1‐2) motif considered essential for the β‐defensin family. Each CjAvBDs also formed a sub‐group with the respective orthologous genes of various bird species in a phylogenetic tree analysis. Synteny between the CjAvBD cluster and GgAvBD cluster was confirmed. The CjAvBD cluster was mapped on the long‐arm end of chromosome 3 by linkage analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CjAvBD1 and CjAvBD12 (approximately 46kbp), as well as GgAvBD cluster. We also confirmed that CjAvBD1, ‐4, ‐5, ‐9, and ‐10 are transcribed in 20 tissues, including immune and digestive tissues. However, our experimental data indicated that the CjAvBD cluster lacks the AvBD3 and ‐7 loci, whereas the CjAvBD101α, ‐101β, and ‐101θ loci arose from gene duplication of the AvBD6 orthologous locus in the CjAvBD cluster after differentiation between Coturnix ‐ Gallus.