The nutritional value of low lathyrogenic Lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) for growing chicks

1. The feeding value of new low β‐N‐oxalyl‐amino‐L‐alanine (BOAA) lines of Lathyrus sativus (lathyrus) and the benefits of dehulling the seed or of pre‐adapting chicks to lathyrus‐based diets were examined in several experiments.

2. Chicks fed on diets containing 400 g/kg of the low (1.3 g BOAA/kg seed) and medium (2.2 g BOAA/kg seed) BOAA lines did not differ (P>0.05) in weight gain (WG) or in apparent fat and protein digestibilities compared to birds fed on a wheat‐based diet.

3. Consumption of 600 g low BOAA lathyrus/kg diet caused a slight, but significant (P< 0.05), decrease in WG. Food efficiency decreased as the amount of dietary lathyrus was increased, suggesting that lathyrus may contain an antinutritive factor(s) other than BOAA.

4. Removal of the hull (70 g hull/kg seed) from the seed did not affect chick performance (P> 0.05).

5. Pre‐adapting chicks for 7 d to diets containing up to 600 g medium line lathyrus/kg diet did not reduce the detrimental effects of the lathyrus.

6. Although dehulling and pre‐adaptation of chicks to lathyrus were not beneficial, the low and medium lines of lathyrus tested show potential for use in chick diets up to at least 400 g lathyrus/kg diet.     

Effects of an induced pause in egg production and supplementation of the diet with iron on egg shell colour,quality and performance of brown egg layers

1. A pause in egg production was induced in brown‐egg laying hens, aged 68 weeks, by feeding them whole oats for 7 d. Subsequently, these hens, together with control groups, were given laying diets with either 400 or 600 mg/kg iron. The 200 mg/kg of supplemental iron was added in the form of either ferrous sulphate or iron proteinate (chelated iron).

2. The feeding of whole oats halted egg production in 5.7 ±0.22 d and the duration of the pause was 8.3 ±0.78 d.

3. The induction of a pause improved the subsequent rate of egg production, egg output, efficiency of food utilisation, albumen quality, egg specific gravity and shell colour. It also increased food intake and body weight gain but neither egg weight nor the rate of mortality were affected.

4. Neither supplementation of the diet with iron nor its source had any significant effect on laying performance, egg quality or shell colour.     

Studies on acid oils and fatty acids for chickens. III. Effect of chemical composition on metabolisable energy of by‐products of vegetable oil refining

1. Fourteen by‐products of oil refining, selected for their variability in free fatty acid and unsaponifiable contents, were analysed chemically with the objective of relating the determined ME values of the products to chemical composition by means of multiple linear regression analysis. Refined sunflower oil was included as a reference fat.

2. Twenty‐one 2‐week‐old chicks were used to determine fat digestibilities and AMEn values of diets, using the total collection method. Fats were included in a wheat‐soyabean meal diet at 100 g/kg. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to express the ME values of fats as functions of the parameters measured (moisture, gross energy, impurities, unsaponifiables, non eluted material, free fatty acid content, unsaturated: saturated ratio, peroxide value, TBA test).

3. The ME of the fat products lay in the range 12.62 to 24.35 MJ/kg, and 29.26 MJ/kg for refined sunflower oil. Free fatty acid content of the fats was shown to be a poor predictor of their ME values, whereas non eluted material (NEM) of the fat products showed a good correlation with their ME. A regression equation could be derived (R² = 0.6548; SEE = 2–0064) with the unsaturated: saturated ratio (U:S) and NEM. An ME prediction equation based on the U:S, NEM and unsaponifiable content is also proposed (R² = 0–7168; SEE= 1.9058).     

Effects of cultivar,pelleting and enzyme addition on nutritive value of barley in poultry diets

1. The effect of pelleting process and Trichoderma viride enzymes (TVE) addition on apparent metabolisable energy, corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) and on productive value of practical diets containing 40 and 45% of three different barley cultivars and one wheat were studied in poultry.

2. The effect of the pelleting process on AMEn was inconsistent and was dependent on the cereal included and the addition of enzyme.

3. The growth trial showed a significant effect of enzyme addition to pelleted diets over the whole growth period (0 to 42 d). Addition of TVE improved weight gain and food efficiency by 1.3% and 2.9%, respectively and decreased food intake by 1.6% between 0 and 22 d. In the finisher period (23 to 42 d) TVE improved efficiency by 2.8% and reduced food intake by 2.9%.

4. The incidence of sticky droppings was related to the viscosity of barley used, and enzyme supplementation reduced it. Both pelleting and enzyme addition increased dry matter content of excreta.

5. At the end of the experiment, 14 animals per treatment were slaughtered and carcass yield, viscera weight and abdominal fat were determined.     

A survey of the selenium status of beef cows in Alberta.

An epidemiological survey was conducted in Alberta to measure the selenium status in blood of beef cows during the fall and to determine the risk of selenium deficiency among specific geographic regions of Alberta. Three census divisions of Alberta based on the Statistics Canada Census of Agriculture were chosen as the study areas for the project. Soils and plants in area A (Edmonton area) and area B (Calgary area) were known to be deficient in selenium, while soils and plants in area C (southeast corner of Alberta) were known to have adequate levels of selenium. Blood samples were collected from 335 cows on 29 farms from the 3 study areas. These samples were collected from cows that had recently been removed from pasture in October and November 1992. Answers to a short questionnaire pertaining to various herd characteristics and management practices were also obtained for each herd. The average value of selenium for all cows sampled was 2.20 mumol/L. The average value of selenium of cows in areas A and B was 1.93 mumol/L. The average value of selenium of cows in area C was significantly (P < 0.05) higher at 2.70 mumol/L. Nine percent of the cows in the study were considered marginal or deficient in selenium (< 1.27 mumol/L selenium). Herds located in area C, herds that were provided with supplemental feed on pasture, and herds that were pregnancy checked had higher average herd selenium values than did other herds. Cow-calf producers located in areas with selenium-deficient soils should pay particular attention to selenium supplementation for their cows. Some of the negative "geographic" effects on selenium values can be overcome by more progressive management practices.     

Rapeseed meal and egg taint: Treatment of rapeseed meal to reduce tainting potential

1. Treatment of rapeseed meal with calcium hydroxide suspension decreased the sinapine content by up to 90%. Smaller decreases were obtained by autolysis, steaming and treatment with ammonia.

2. When this treated meal was fed to susceptible ("tainting") hens the concentration of trimethylamine in the eggs was decreased to much less than that required to cause taint.     

Effect of injecting amino acids into the egg on embryonic and subsequent growth in the domestic fowl

1. The growing embryo uses about 1% of the total protein available in the egg during the first week of incubation.

2. Injecting the growing embryo with amino acids equivalent to the amount of protein used resulted in higher weight of chicks at all stages up to 56 d.     

The use of air‐coolers in broiler houses under subtropical conditions in Iraq

1. Under summer conditions in north Iraq, 2 000 chicks were reared for 56 d in two broiler houses. One house was provided with two air‐coolers. The birds were housed at densities of eight to 16 birds/m².

2. Differences in weight gain between birds in cooled and uncooled houses ranged from 101.5 g at eight birds/m² to 385 g at 16 birds/m². Food consumption increased gradually with increasing bird density. Food conversion efficiency, meat yield and carcass conformation were much better in the cooled house than under conventional conditions.

3. The financial return/m² ranged from 2.30 to 4.51 ID¹ in the cooled house, compared with 2.01 to 2.77 ID in the uncooled house at different floor densities.     

Storage time‐temperature effects on the odour preferences for uncooked chicken parts

1. Whole broilers and separated legs were stored at ‐12 ± 1 °C, —18 ± 1 °C and — 75 ±2 °C (reference group, whole carcasses only), for up to nine months.

2. Legs cut from the whole birds after removal from store, unpacking and thawing, and legs from the portions were compared in odour preference at four times of examination.

3. After only 1 d the odour of the legs stored as parts at —12 °C was less preferred than that of the reference group; this was also true for legs cut from whole birds after 3 months at the same temperature.

4. After 3 months at — 12 °C the odour of the legs stored as parts was less preferred than the odour of legs obtained from whole birds.

5. Storage of legs as parts at —18 °C resulted in a comparatively less preferred odour after 3 months, while the same was true after 9 months for legs cut from the carcasses.