The nutritive value of triticale and rye in broiler diets containing field beans (Vicia faba L.)

1. Diets containing wheat and maize (control), 300 g or 500 g triticale per kg or 300 g rye per kg were fed to broiler chickens for 56 d.

2. Live‐weight at 56 d of age was not different on a diet containing 300 g triticale per kg to that on the control diet but was significantly reduced by diets containing 500 g triticale or 300 g rye per kg.

3. Food conversion efficiency was best with 300 g triticale per kg of diet.     

Incorporation of triticale in layer diets

1. Diets containing either maize or triticale were fed unsupplemented or supplemented with meat meal or groundnut oil to White Leghorn pullets for two periods of 11 weeks each.

2. The egg production of birds fed on the unsupplemented triticale diet was significantly higher than that of the birds fed on the unsupplemented maize diet, but was not significantly different from that of the birds fed on the maize plus meat meal diet.

3. Protein quality of the unsupplemented triticale diet as judged by efficiency of nitrogen retention was similar or inferior to that of the unsupplemented maize diet.

4. The higher protein content of triticale and the increased intake of these diets seemed to be responsible for the better performance observed.

5. Addition of groundnut oil to the triticale diet did not improve either egg weight or production.

6. It is concluded that the quantitative substitution for triticale of maize does not adversely affect egg production and egg weight.     

Studies on the incorporation of triticale in diets for growing chicks

1. The classical ME value of triticale varied from 12.305 to 13.778 kJ/g or 11.819 to 13.016 kJ/g corrected for N‐retention depending upon method of calculation.

2. Substituting triticale for maize, weight for weight, but not on a iso‐nitrogenous basis, in a groundnut oil cake (GNC) starter diet improved weight gain (P < 0.05) when the substitution exceeded 75% without affecting the protein efficiency ratio (PER).

3. A similar substitution in a soybean oil meal diet, improved weight gain (P < 0.05) at 50% or more but PER declined (P < 0.05).

4. The net protein utilisation and protein retention efficiency values of the diets in which maize protein was replaced by triticale protein were significantly reduced.

5. The maize‐GNC diet was equally limiting in methionine and lysine while the triticale‐GNC diet was not.

6. The growth and food efficiency obtained with a triticale‐GNC diet was higher (P < 0.01) than with the maize‐GNC diet but not with a maize‐GNC supplemented with fish meal and methionine.

7. It is concluded that triticale could quantitatively substitute maize in the starter diets.     

Replacement of maize by triticale in broiler diets

1. The nitrogen‐corrected metabolisable energy contents of the triticale varieties Multi Graze, Graze Grain 70, 204 and 131 were 12.28, 12.69, 12.37 and 12.03 MJ/kg respectively.

2. Increasing proportions (0, 25, 50 or 75%) of the maize of a diet were replaced by triticale 131 to provide diets of equal energy and nitrogen contents for broilers. These diets resulted in weight gains of 1.775, 1.782, 1.713 and 1.808 kg respectively at 8 weeks and there were no significant differences among efficiencies of food conversions.

3. Dressed carcass weights as percentages of body weight were 74.38, 75.01, 73.98 and 74.50 respectively and did not differ significantly.

4. Triticale in the diet did not seem to influence the relative weights of either liver or gizzard.

5. The flavour of the meat seemed to become less acceptable as the triticale in the diet increased but there were no significant differences in tenderness and juiciness of the meat caused by the treatments.     

Interactions between dietary fat type and xylanase supplementation when rye‐based diets are fed to broiler chickens 2. Performance,nutrient digestibility and the fat‐soluble vitamin status of livers

1. The interactions between dietary fat type and xylanase supplementation of rye‐based diets were investigated using a 2×2 factorial design in which a rye‐based diet (610 g rye/kg) was combined with 100 g/kg of soya oil or beef tallow, with or without xylanase supplementation at 3000 IU/kg, and fed to 1‐d‐old male broilers for 35 d. Growth, nutrient digestibility and AMEn values were determined and the vitamin status of livers assessed at various ages.

2. There were significant interactions between crude fat and xylanase supplementation on the faecal digestibility of crude fat and crude protein. Fat digestibility was improved by xylanase in both fat type groups but to a greater extent for the tallow diets. However, the effects were found to be significant only for oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. Similarly, protein digestibility and AMEn values were significantly improved by xylanase, but only for the tallow diet.

3. Heal digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids also were affected by enzyme for both fat type diets, the effect generally being more pronounced for the tallow diet.

4. The deposition of the fat soluble vitamins A and E in livers was significantly increased by xylanase supplementation and was also better for soya oil than for tallow.

5. Xylanase supplementation increased the digestibility of insoluble pentosans whereas for the soluble pentosans the opposite effect was noted.

6. Without xylanase supplementation the tallow‐based diet caused high mortality. Liveweight gain and the efficiency of food utilisation were greatest in the soya oil‐based, xylanase‐supplemented diet, followed by the unsupplemented soya oil‐, supplemented tallow‐ and unsupplemented tallow‐based diets.     

Traits influencing the hatching performance of Japanese quail eggs

1. Japanese quail eggs from moderately heavier sires showed superior fertility; while fertile eggs from moderately heavier dams hatched slightly better than the eggs from lighter dams.

2. Higher rates of fertility and hatchability of Japanese quail eggs were observed from parents of 10 to 19 weeks of age, with peak fertility and hatchability at 14 and 12 weeks of age, respectively.

3. Sex ratios of 1:2 to 1:5 gave comparable fertility and hatchability results.

4. The hatching performance of quail eggs from cage and deep litter reared breeders was comparable.

5. Fertility and hatchability were directly proportional to the egg weight.

6. Quail egg shell colour, tints and blotches were found to influence hatching performance.

7. Storing quail eggs at 16 ± 2°C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity for more than 4 d reduced hatchability.

8. Hatchability of eggs stored at room temperature was improved if they were sealed in polyethylene bags.

9. Provision of light during the first 14 d of incubation resulted in a photo‐acceleration of about 3.2 h.     

Metabolic and anatomical adaptations of light‐bodied chicks to intermittent feeding

1. Chicks of a light‐bodied strain were deprived of food on alternate days from 15 to 46 d of age.

2. Hyperphagia, amounting to twice the intake of control birds early in the experiment, occurred on the repletion day.

3. Final body weight attained 80% of that of the controls.

4. Body fat concentration decreased at first but returned to that of controls after 3 weeks.

5. A consistent hyperlipaemia was observed after food deprivation or restoration.

6. There was a marked increase in the digestive enzymes found in the small intestine, but not in the pancreas during the repletion day.

7. These responses may be considered as mechanisms to reduce the physiological manifestations of starvation.     

Effect of dietary crude protein concentration on semen yield and quality in male broiler breeder fowls

1. The responses in semen volume and spermatozoal concentration of 48 caged male broiler breeder fowls fed on a restricted quantity of food containing 80, 110, 152, 210, 290 or 400 g crude protein (CP)/kg from 18 to 64 weeks of age were studied.

2. The proportion of males producing semen declined with increasing dietary crude protein content and resulted in a significant decrease in total semen volume and spermatozoa production.

3. The relationship between the concentration of spermatozoa in the semen and dietary crude protein was negative but trivial. There were no relationships between dietary crude protein content and semen volume or the metabolic activity of spermatozoa.

4. The metabolic activity of spermatozoa was lower at 25 compared with 37 weeks of age.

5. The proportion of males giving semen peaked between 32 and 42 weeks of age. The relationship between age and semen volume and concentration of spermatozoa was negative and linear.

6. Blood plasma uric acid concentration increased linearly above 106 g CP/kg and males on 400 g CP/kg developed articular gout and had to be destroyed.     

Anti‐nutritive activity of wheat pentosans in broiler diets

1. To assess their possible anti‐nutritive activity wheat pentosans were isolated from a milling by‐product and added at graded levels to a sorghum‐based broiler chicken diet.

2. A water‐insoluble pentosan preparation (WIP, 720 g arabinoxy‐lan/kg) caused a depression of apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of 1.63 MJ/kg DM at the highest level of inclusion (41.9 g/kg). Broilers maintained on this diet showed significant growth depression and a decrease in feed conversion efficiency.

3. A water‐soluble pentosan preparation (WSP, 520 g arabinoxy‐lan/kg) showed less anti‐nutritive activity.

4. In a second experiment the AME of rice (pearled), maize, sorghum, wheat, triticale, barley and rye was determined. The AME values obtained were highly correlated (r= — 0.98, P<0.001) with the summed levels of pentosans and β‐glucans found in the cereals.

5. It was concluded that the pentosans of wheat possess anti‐nutritive activity when present in broiler diets and that similar polysaccharides may influence the nutritive value of other cereals.     

The caeca of the domestic fowl and digestion of the crude fibre complex

The literature concerning crude fibre digestion and caecal function in poultry is briefly reviewed.

Digestibility trials are described, in which cockerels are compared before and after caecectomy; these birds after caecectomy are also compared with normal intact ones of the same age.

The trials showed a reduction in faecal dry matter after caecectomy, indicating that the caeca are active in absorption of water from the digesta. Faecal dry matter content seems to be more characteristic of the bird than of the food it eats.

There was a reduction in the overall digestibility of dry matter in the food after caecectomy, and also in that of crude fibre, though the latter effect is dependent on the food being eaten and on its crude fibre content.

Cellulose digestibility in a given bird was lowered, but the effect is not always evident between one bird and another, indicating that cellulose is digested bacterially in the caecum. No effect was found on pentosan and starch digestion.     

Replacement of groundnut cake by dried poultry manure in the diets of laying hens

1. The effect on food consumption by pullets when dried poultry manure (DPM) replaced part of dietary groundnut cake depended on the strain of the birds: in two of the three hybrids food consumption was not affected when up to 100 g DPM/kg was fed.

2. Increases in food consumption were accompanied by increases in egg production.

3. The food required per dozen eggs was improved by up to 100 g dietary DPM/kg and variation in the sizes of eggs laid depended on the hybrid.

4. Concentrations of DPM up to 100 g/kg did not affect the water‐soluble nitrogen content of the egg but the crude albumen nitrogen content was depressed at concentrations of 80 g/kg or above.

5. Feeding DPM to laying pullets depressed body weight.     

Explanted embryo culture: In vitro and in ovo techniques for domestic fowl

1. Embryos of the domestic fowl (72 h old) have been explanted into shell‐less cultures or ‘surrogate’ eggshells, in order to investigate the possibility of rearing these embryos to hatching.

2. Rocking embryo cultures during the first half of incubation enhanced embryo growth.

3. Embryos explanted into ‘surrogate’ eggshells of either other individuals or other species have been successfully ‘hatched’.

4. A normal chorioallantois is formed in these surrogate eggshells. This enables a functional albumen sac to form and eggshell resorption to be achieved.

5. Embryos grown in ‘surrogate’ eggshells are slightly smaller than controls but otherwise normal.

6. The technique provides opportunities for genetic engineering experiments.     

Effect of tannins on starch digestibility and tmen of triticale and semipurified starches from triticale and field beans

1. The effects of field bean tannin‐containing hulls (T‐hulls), non‐tannin hulls (NT‐hulls) and tannin extract on starch digestibilities and TMEn of triticale and semipurified starches from triticale and field beans were evaluated with adult cockerels and 3‐week‐old‐chicks.

2. For both cockerels and chicks, the digestibility and TMEn of semipurified starches from triticale were higher than those from beans. Starch digestibilities of triticales (range 99.1 to 97.7%), of semipurified starches from triticales (range 96.5 to 89.9%) and from field beans (range 75.4 to 71.6%) were similar for both cockerels and chicks.

3. The addition of NT‐hulls improved, in general, the digestibility of semipurified starches for both chicks and cockerels, which suggests that fibre improves the digestion of semipurified starches.

4. The effects of tannins of T‐hulls on semipurified starch from beans and from triticale were different. Tannins always decreased the digestibility and TMEn of semipurified starch from field beans but only decreased the digestibility and TMEn of semipurified starch from triticale when fed to chicks, but not when fed to cockerels.

5. The addition of tannin extract always decreased the digestibility of semipurified starches by a greater amount than T‐hulls, which supports the idea that the effect of tannins depends on the quantity of tannin ingested.     

Effects of short intermittent lighting on food consumption and performance of dwarf broiler breeders and progeny

1. Two hundred and sixty four dwarf broiler breeder hens were subjected to ad libitum or restricted feeding and to four lighting patterns: 15L (bright light):9D (dark), 15L:9d (dim light), 2L:10d: 1L:11d, (0.5L:3.5d) × 6.

2. Breeder hens fed ad libitum and subjected to either conventional or intermittent lighting ingested respectively, 25 g and 14 to 17 g more than hens restricted to 115 g/d.

3. Body weight was greater in hens fed ad libitum irrespective of the lighting pattern and of the amount of food intake.

4. Persistency of egg production was impaired by intermittent lighting.

5. Ad libitum feeding reduced egg fertility. The decrease was larger in breeder hens on intermittent lighting.

6. Hatchability was increased in hens submitted to the symmetrical lighting pattern (0.5L:3.5d).

7. Egg and chick weights were higher in hens fed ad libitum.

8. Shell index and shell breaking strength increased in restricted hens on the intermittent lighting pattern (0.5L:3.5d) × 6.

9. The best performance was obtained in restricted hens on the conventional lighting pattern.     

Inheritance of body weight and rate of gain in Japanese quail

1. The effects of hatch date, location and sex on the body weight and rate of gain in Coturnix coturnix japonica were examined.

2. The data conformed to a mixed model and adjustments were made for the fixed effects sex, hatch date and location. Adjustment improved the precision of the estimates by reducing the error variances significantly.

3. Rearing equal numbers of birds from each family at different locations made the interactions negligible.

4. Weight gain was greater if illumination intensity up to 35 d was less.

5. Females were not heavier on the 1st day but were heavier on the 14th and 35th days than males.

6. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated.     

Digestibility studies in broiler chickens: Influence of genotype,age, sex and method of determination

1. The influences of genotype, age and sex on droppings digestibility coefficients of a compound food were studied using male and female broiler chickens of three different genotypes at 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age.

2. Because the traditional method of determination of droppings digestibility coefficients of nitrogen may lead to systematic errors in estimating the feeding value of foodstuffs, a method is proposed to determine the ileal digestibility coefficients. The ileal method is compared with the droppings method for a mixed food and for two foodstuffs: wheat and solvent‐extracted soyabean meal.

3. Birds selected for efficient food conversion showed distinctly higher digestibility coefficients for all nutrients than birds selected for high growth potential or birds from a commercial strain.

4. The influence of age on digestibility coefficients was not consistent.

5. Female birds showed digestibility coefficients which were, in general, 3% higher than those of male chickens.

6. Interactions between genotype and sex and between genotype and age for energy metabolisability were the only interactions observed for digestibility measurements.

7. The method of determination influenced the amino acid digestibility coefficients of the mixed food and the relative feeding values of wheat and soyabean meal.

8. It is important to use well defined animals (genotype, sex, age) in evaluating foodstuffs.

9. The preferred method for determination of digestibility coefficients of nitrogen and amino acids is based on ileal sampling, although the differences in amino acid digestibility coefficients were small between methods.     

Whitening of brown shelled eggs: Individual variation and relationships with age,fearfulness, oviposition interval and stress

1. Fearfulness, shell colour, incidence and degree of shell whitening and the interval between ovipositions were studied in two populations of 30 brown egg laying hens with family histories of a low or a high incidence of egg shell whitening.

2. Hens of the population with the high incidence of whitening appeared to be more fearful than hens of the population with the low incidence of whitening.

3. Brown colouration of the egg shell and the incidence and degree of shell whitening declined as the hens aged.

4. Brown colouration and egg shell whitening were most pronounced on the blunt ends of the eggs.

5. A large part of the variation in egg shell whitening was attributable to the individual (hen) component of variance.

6. Differences in egg shell whitening, between the two populations, were detectable throughout the 26 weeks of the experiment.

7. Oviposition intervals were similar for normal and coated eggs when birds were not exposed to disturbance.

8. Disturbance of hens increased oviposition intervals and the incidence and degree of shell whitening, to a similar extent, in both populations.

9. It is concluded that stress‐related egg retention is not the sole factor responsible for abnormal egg shell whitening. Shell whitening may occur as a consequence of the premature termination of shell pigmentation as well as a consequence of the retardation of oviposition which occurs when hens are disturbed.     

Effects of male body weight,strain and dietary protein content on fertility and musculo‐skeletal disease in naturally mated broiler breeder males

1. The effects of male body weight at mating and different rates of gain on overall fertility were studied in two strains of broiler breeder males fed on a diet containing 160 or 120 g crude protein/kg. Sexual activity, musculo‐skeletal disease and culling were also assessed.

2. There were no differences in early fertility between males weighing 3–0 or 3–5 kg at the start of the mating period, or between males gaining 1.0 or 1.5 kg body weight from mating to 60 weeks of age.

3. There were no differences in fertility between males fed on the two diets differing in crude protein content.

4. One strain of male had lower fertility than the other and this was associated with a greater weight of breast muscle, lower frequency of observed copulations and a higher number of incompleted matings.

5. Sexual activity declined and the number of spermatozoa trapped on the perivitelline membrane increased with age.

6. There were no differences among the treatments in the prevalence of musculo‐skeletal lesions (destructive cartilage loss). As a proportion destructive cartilage loss occurred in 0^‐67 of the males at 66 weeks of age. Degeneration of the antitrochanter was present in 3 of 50 females examined and a cartilage flap in the medial condyle of the tibiotarsus occurred in 15 of these birds.

7. Beak lesions were the most important cause of male culling which averaged 0–24 as a proportion of the males at the start of the experiment.     

Photoperiod and seasonal influences on the growth of turkey hens

1. The influence of photoperiod and time of year on the growth of hen turkeys was investigated.

2. Photoperiod treatments consisted of computer simulations of day lengths which occur naturally in the spring and autumn of the year. Both photoperiod treatments were given to hens in the autumn and spring.

3. Data were collected for growth evaluations at 2‐ to 4‐week intervals to 16 weeks of age. No significant season × photoperiod interactions occurred.

4. The spring trial resulted in greater body weights and better food conversions (food/gain) than the autumn trial.

5. Simulated autumn daylengths resulted in greater body weights and improved food efficiency at 16 weeks of age compared with simulated spring daylengths.

6. The pattern of growth (period changes) was influenced by season, but not photoperiod.

7. Season and photoperiod both have important and independent influences on the growth of the turkey hen.     

Battery cage shape: Its effect on diurnal feeding pattern,egg shell cracking and feather pecking

1. Battery cages 460 mm in depth (deep) were compared with 305 mm cages (shallow); the two shapes provided equal areas per bird.

2. More eggs were produced per hen housed from 30 to 70 weeks in the shallow cages; the difference approached significance.

3. The pattern of feeding activity over the day was significantly more U‐shaped in the shallow cages; this pattern accords more closely with physiological requirements.

4. Feather damage caused by pecking was slightly but significantly more severe in the deep cages at 70 weeks.

5. The proportion of cracked eggs (collected from 60 to 70 weeks) was significantly lower in the shallow cages.

6. The arrangement of the hens was such that within the shallow cages a higher proportion of birds was present in the front half.

7. It is suggested that some of the advantages conferred by the shallow cage may be related to the greater accessibility of the food trough.