2. Growth of both embryo and wing length during 42 d of incubation was comparable and approximately linear, with a more or less weekly doubling in size up to 35 d of incubation.
3. The embryo eye size increased more rapidly than beak length and reached a maximum of ~16.2 mm by 28 d of incubation, whereas beak length increased continuously until hatching at 42 d.
4. Linear regression equations were derived from morphometric measurements of embryos between 7 and 42 d.
5. Information stemming from these results can be used to estimate the age of dead-in-shell embryos in an attempt to identify timing of incubation problems that potentially result in low hatchability of fertile eggs. 相似文献
2. Protein and energy metabolism were studied in males from these selected lines fed on a diet of intermediate protein content.
3. All selected birds retained more nitrogen than those studied 10 years previously.
4. There was no difference in nitrogen retention between groups, although relative growth rate of group B birds was higher.
5. Heat productions relative to gross energy intake were 0.38 (group B) and 045 (group A). Energy retentions relative to gross energy intake were 0.39 (group B) and 0.35 (group A); the difference being primarily due to higher fat retention in group B.
6. Using a common maintenance requirement for metabolisable energy, group B utilised metabolisable energy for growth (0.78) better than did group A (0.71).
7. At 53 d of age plasma glucose (10%) and insulin (50%) were higher in group B than in group A. 相似文献
2. Treatment with TA improved growth, increased carcass moisture and tended to decrease carcass fat and ash; protein content was not altered by implantation.
3. Treatment with TA produced a marked improvement in efficiency of conversion of dietary protein to carcass protein.
4. Carcass formation of 70‐ and 77‐d‐old turkeys of both sexes implanted with 20 mg TA at 49 d of age was not markedly different from that of controls in terms of the relative proportions of the major body components nor in relative skeletal proportions.
5. Implantation with TA reduced linear and appositional skeletal growth both relative to soft tissue growth and relative to skeletal growth of control turkeys.
6. The rate of bone remodelling was reduced more than the rate of appositional growth so that bone cortical thickness was increased.
7. The changes in the skeleton effected by TA are consistent with the hypothesis that the drug acts by decreasing the rate of protein turnover, with catabolism being depressed more than anabolism. 相似文献
2. Although the protein content of all tissues varied with age, the only statistically significant effect was on the level of protein in the gizzard.
3. The moisture content of the gizzard was significantly affected by age and blood by age and sex.
4. The fat content of the gizzard was significantly affected by age, as was the effect of sex on the fat content of blood.
5. The ash contents of heart and gizzard were significantly affected by age.
6. The phosphorus contents of the gizzard, heart and liver were significantly affected by age, as were the chloride content of heart and the calcium content of the liver. Blood potassium was significantly affected by sex. Fluctuations in the contents of other elements are discussed.
7. The variability in organ composition is discussed with respect to the degree of trimming and preparation of the samples. 相似文献
2. The different varieties of wheat investigated contained different proportions of water‐soluble to water‐insoluble hemicelluloses.
3. By comparison of the arabinose to xylose ratios it was concluded that water‐soluble and insoluble arabinoxylans of wheat were branched to the same degree.
4. Starch from six wheat varieties grown in the U.K. was very well digested by adult cockerels and true metabolisable energy values of the wheats were high.
5. Small amounts of cell wall carbohydrates were digested by adult cockerels. 相似文献
2. Reduction in the duration of illumination did not impair growth rate.
3. The sexes showed a differential response to the treatments.
4. There was evidence that the enhanced performance of females was due to an improvement in food conversion efficiency. 相似文献
2. No differences were detected between the gains in weight of the control and experimental groups of birds.
3. A marked negative linear relationship was observed between the dry weight of the amount of caecal tissue removed when the birds were 22 d old and the weight of the left caecum at the end of the experiment.
4. The average growth rate of the left caecum (g dry tissue/week) was found to be dependent on the estimated weight of caecal tissue remaining after surgery.
5. No evidence was obtained to indicate that the growth of the right caecum responded to the removal of the left caecal tissue.
6. The morphology and histology of the operated caeca were found to be similar to the equivalent regions of the unoperated caeca. Surgical interference was not followed by any major changes in mucosal architecture.
7. In birds which had experienced unilateral caecectomy, the discharge of caecal faeces usually stopped for about 2 d. When caecal defaecation was resumed, the pattern of defaecation appeared to be the same as that observed in sham‐operated birds with both caeca intact. 相似文献
2. Growth was significantly enhanced by regular handling in broilers and the females of the layer strains and gain : food ratios were generally greater in the handled birds.
3. There were no significant treatment effects on growth or gain : food ratios in males of the layer strains.
4. Males had higher relative weight gains and gain : food ratios than females. 相似文献
2. In 4 consecutive trials, 4752 hens were recorded for keel bone status. Evaluation of plumage condition was made for 1440 hens and bone breaking strength was recorded for 1200 hens. A total of 4962 eggs were analysed for internal and external egg quality traits. Analyses involved 30 small group compartments per trial.
3. The layer line had a much more pronounced influence on humerus breaking strength than on tibia breaking strength.
4. Plumage condition, particularly on the neck, was positively correlated with humerus breaking strength in both layer lines.
5. An average of 34% of LB and 23% of LSL hens showed keel bone deformities, with higher proportions of slight deformities.
6. Slight keel bone deformities, rather than moderate to severe, increased significantly during the laying period.
7. Stocking density had no influence on bone breaking strength, keel bone status and egg quality traits.
8. LB layers had a 1.4-fold higher humerus, but only a 1.06-fold higher tibia breaking strength compared to LSL layers.
9. Tibia breaking strength was significantly affected by the interaction of group size and layer line. LSL layers in small groups had lower tibia breaking strengths than those of the large groups. 相似文献
2. A circadian system was postulated to control the restriction of ovulation to an 8‐h period of the day under conventional 14 h light: 10 h dark regimes.
3. The final phase of follicular maturation was postulated to commence after ovulation of the preceding ovum in the hierarchy.
4. Ovulation was postulated to occur when a mature follicle was present in the ovary during the appropriate phase of the circadian‐linked system.
5. The predicted times of oviposition were within the standard error of the observed times of oviposition under 21‐, 24‐ and 28‐h photoschedules.
6. It was concluded that this hypothesis for the control of the ovulatory cycle of the hen is consistent with current knowledge. 相似文献
2. Restricted birds were lighter throughout the experiment.
3. Relative adrenal weight tended to be greater in restricted birds but the difference decreased with time.
4. There was no depletion of adrenal cholesterol: from week 5 there was a significantly greater amount in the adrenals of restricted birds.
5. After 1 week of restriction plasma corticosterone concentration was 73% greater than in controls. It decreased progressively, falling within the normal range at 5 weeks.
6. Restricted birds were hypoglycaemic from weeks 2 to 7 and hyper‐lipacidaemic throughout. A negative correlation between plasma glucose and free fatty acids was found. 相似文献
2. Dry plucking increased weight loss due to plucking and eviscerating, and reduced chilled carcass yield.
3. Dry eviscerating increased carcass water uptake during chilling.
4. Pre‐chilling with running water increased carcass water uptake compared with chilling in ice and water alone.
5. Water uptake during chilling appeared to be increased by longer eviscerating time. 相似文献
2. Half the hens had undergone beak trimming at 18 weeks, but in many cases regrowth had occurred.
3. Plumage damage and loss was significantly reduced in beak‐trimmed birds compared with birds with normal beaks. Tier and cage design had no effect.
4. This finding supports the idea that feather pecking is the important factor in causing plumage damage, rather than abrasion.
5. A comparison between 64 birds in which beak regrowth had occurred, and 64 in which it remained truncated, showed that both groups had similar plumage scores.
6. It appears to be the beak‐trimming procedure which is important; subsequent regrowth being irrelevant. 相似文献
2. A randombred control population of known pedigree was used to measure the environmental trends.
3. Selection in pure lines resulted in concomitant improvement in the crosses for the selected as well as the correlated traits.
4. Cross performance was comparatively more than expected on the basis of mid‐parent values, indicating involvement of non‐additive gene action in the expression of cross performance.
5. Crosses responded better to independent culling level selection for egg weight than their parents.
6. Heterosis appeared to increase in later generations as compared with initial generations of selection. 相似文献
2. Increased mortality, perosis and other pathological changes involving a number of tissues were observed in birds fed on a low‐choline diet.
3. Methionine replaced part of the dietary requirement for choline at low dietary choline concentrations.
4. High dietary concentrations of choline (> 1 750 mg/kg) increased the requirement for dietary TSAA.
5. Increasing the dietary choline while maintaining the TSAA at an inadequate level may decrease performance. 相似文献
2. The Na and water contents of skeletal muscles were increased by TA treatment while K was unaltered.
3. The extracellular space expressed as a proportion of starved body weight was unaffected by TA implantation.
4. Plasma or serum concentrations of P, Ca, Mg, Na and K and activities of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.1], creatine kinase [EG 2.7.3.2] and γ‐glutamyl transferase [EC 2.3.2.2] were not changed by TA treatment.
5. Packed cell volume was significantly increased by TA implantation after a delay of some 2 to 3 weeks while plasma protein concentrations were immediately decreased for a period of two weeks before nearly normal concentrations were obtained again.
6. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was decreased by TA treatment, but serum protein electrophoretic pattern was unchanged. 相似文献
2. Time of day of injection did not modify the response to corticosterone of 3‐week‐old chicks kept under natural daylight nor of 7‐week‐old broilers receiving additional illumination.
3. Pure White Rock chicks and Cornish x White Rock crossbred chicks responded similarly to corticosterone injections at 3 weeks of age.
4. Seven‐week‐old female birds treated with corticosterone had significantly larger abdominal fat pads than similarly treated males.
5. Corticosterone injection was more effective in increasing the proportion of liver fat in 7‐week‐old birds than in 3‐week‐old ?hicks.
6. The increased amount of abdominal and liver fat due to corticosterone injections administered at 3 weeks of age disappeared after 3 weeks, but growth depression was still evident. 相似文献
2. Growth rate, food intake, food utilisation and proportion of dietary nitrogen retained were much poorer in chicks receiving salseed meal.
3. The chicks receiving salseed meal developed pathological lesions in liver and kidney.
4. The red blood cell count, white blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume of the chicks receiving salseed meal were lower than those of chicks receiving maize.
5. The apparent metabolisable energy value of salseed meal was determined as 6.83 MJ/kg. 相似文献
2. Birds exposed to a 2 h light(L): 10 h dark(D) lighting schedule with feeding restricted to the light periods ate significantly less food and grew more slowly than conventionally‐reared birds. Satisfactory growth and efficiency of food utilisation were obtained by allowing these birds access to food during the dark periods.
3. Altering the lighting schedule to 2L:6D resulted in birds with food intakes and growth rates similar to those reared conventionally, even when feeding was restricted to the light periods.
4. Releasing birds from the light and food restriction for the 2 weeks preceding slaughter resulted in greater food consumption which was not characterised by significantly better growth or food utilisation.
5. Feeding a diet of high energy or pelleting a diet of low energy during the period of restriction increased food intake and improved growth rate.
6. The response of broilers to intermittent lighting and feeding was not significantly influenced by ambient temperature within the range 16 to 35 °C or by the energy concentration of the diet fed before the introduction of the intermittent schedule. 相似文献