Use of Mailed Questionnaire Data in a Study of Swine Congenital Malformations

A study was designed to evaluate the representativeness and accuracy of data collected on swine birth defects by mailed questionnaire. The study was conducted in the three contiguous counties of Johnson, Lafayette and Pettis in west central Missouri. A personal interview survey and an examination of malformed pigs were used to validate mailed questionnaire data which estimated the frequency and distribution of malformations observed in pigs over a six month period. This period between April and September 1970 was defined as the study period. The results were compared to a previous six month period (April-September 1969), or baseline period, when only the mailed questionnaire was used. The frequency and distribution of the reported malformations by type did not differ significantly (at the p=0.05 level) between the study period (70.4% response) and the baseline period (31.3% response). Evaluation of this and additional data collected during the study suggested that the mailed questionnaire can be used effectively to estimate the frequency and distribution of swine malformations within a defined geographic area.     

Egg production responses of hens given a complete mash or unground grain together with concentrate pellets

Thirty‐three light hybrids aged 11 months were caged individually and fed for S weeks according to three regimes, viz. A, a conventional mash ad libitum; B, a mixture of whole wheat, barley and kibbled maize ad libitum in the morning, with concentrate pellets ad libitum in the afternoon; or C, ad libitum the same grain mixture together with concentrate pellets and oystershell grit in the ratio 70 : 23 : 7 so that the nutritive value of the complete diet was similar to that of the conventional mash. The concentrate pellets used in the two regimes differed. Those used in regime B contained ground limestone while those used in regime C did not.

Egg production was similar on the three regimes (74.8, 74.7 and 74.5% respectively) . Food intake was lowest on regime C and highest on regime B, although the intakes of metabolisable energy were very similar on the three regimes. Compared with the results obtained with the conventional mash diet (regime A), the conversions of food and dietary protein to eggs were lower on regime B but higher on regime C.     

Granulomatous Dermatitis in Carnivores Associated with Dermatophyte Infection

Nine cases of granulomatous dermatitis in carnivores (eight dogs, one cat) are described. In three cases, in which there were no fungi in hair shafts, nor any other evidence of mycotic infection initially, fungal elements were demonstrated in the granulomas with the aid of special stains (PAS and Grocott). Granulomatous dermatitis in case of dermatophyte infections is thought to be an hypersensitivity reaction and has been reported to occur in a variety of mammals. It is suggested that pyogranulomatous skin reactions and trichogranulomas could be associated with dermatophytes and it is recommended to carry out further laboratory studies in order to detect fungi in such cases.     

The transfer of minerals from the egg to the chick embryo from the 5th to 18th days of incubation

The amounts of copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc in the embryo and in the rest of the egg were determined daily from the 5th to 18th days of incubation.

For all minerals the relationships between the amounts present in the embryo and the embryo dry weight were allometric over this period.

There were significant, positive, within‐day correlations between the amounts of copper, manganese, sodium and potassium and between iron, magnesium and zinc present in the embryo.

Only in the cases of iron and sodium was there evidence to suggest that the total amount of the element present in the egg was correlated with the amount transferred to the embryo.