CONGENITAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL ANOMALIES OF THE GENITALIA OF SLAUGHTERED BULLS

The genital tracts of 968 slaughtered bulls (46% of which were young post-puberal animals) were examined for defects of a congenital or developmental nature. The overall occurrence of such lesions was 7%. These comprised persistent penile frenulum (0.5%), hypospadias (0.3%), detached urethral process (0.4%), testicular hypoplasia (0.2%), cryptorchidism (0.6%), mesonephric duct abnormalities (1.1%) and bulbourethral cysts, fusion and aplasia (3.6%). Segmental aplasia of the mesonephric duct, not previously recorded in the study area, was found in 4 Shorthorn bulls (0.4%); 2 affected animals were from one herd. In 3 cases of hypospadias (2 from one herd), the urethra communicated with the ventral surface of the penis at the junction of the body and glans through a slit-like orifice. The occurrence of defects observed was generally comparable to that found in bull populations elsewhere but elevated occurrence of several defects in particular herds emphasized the need for further study.     

THE PATHOGENESIS OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN ENCEPHALOMYELITIS

Infectious avian encephalomyelitis virus (IAEV) maternal antibody was detected in the serum of chickens for up to 21 days following hatching. This antibody protected chickens against clinical IAE after intracerebral inoculation with van Roekel strain or oral administration of the NSW-1 strain of IAEV. Maternal antibody to IAEV also protected testosterone bursectomised chickens against the development of clinical disease. IAEV maternal antibody also influeced the pattern of virus excretion in faeces and serological responsiveness. This influence on antibody responses persisted beyond the time that IAEV maternal antibody could be detected. The importance of IAEV maternal antibody on the strategy of vaccination against IAE is discussed.     

Microbiology of normal and seborrheic canine skin.

Quantitative and qualitative bacterial assays were performed on the skin of 15 normal and 32 seborrheic dogs. Nonionic detergent scrubs were made on areas demarcated by glass sidearm cylinders. Quantitative analysis was accomplished by the serial dilution technique, and the bacteria were identified by individual and colonial morphology and by enzyme production. Areas measured on control dogs had a markedly lower total bacterial count than similar areas measured on seborrheic animals. Control dogs had a flora consisting primarily of coagulase-negative cocci, whereas seborrheic dogs usually had a cutaneous flora composed primarily of Stahylococcus aureus, coagulase-positive.     

Isolation and identification of a bovine adenovirus type 3 with an adenovirus-associated virus.

A bovine adenovirus with agglutinating activity was isolated from feedlot calves and classified as serotype 3. The agglutinating activity was shown to be the property of an adenovirus-associated virus (AAV). The AAV was isolated from the bovine adenovirus by isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl; the AAV had a density of 1.4 g/cm2. This AAV is serologically related to bovine AAV-TR-15, but is distinct from bovine parvovirus-1 and primate AAV types 1 to 4, using counterimmunoelectrophoresis and hemagglutination-inhibition.     

The performance of cross‐bred hens given free choice feeding of whole grains and a concentrate mixture and the influence of source of xanthophylls on yolk colour

1. Cross‐bred hens were offered, from 25 to 73 weeks of age, diets based on either wheat or barley in the form of either a mash or as whole grains plus a concentrate mixture; four sources of xanthophylls were also compared.

2. Wheat reduced food intake by 8%, increased efficiency of food conversion and live‐weight gain while barley increased litter moisture content, and, during the first half of the laying year decreased egg production by 3.3% and yolk colour by 4%.

3. Hens offered whole grains ate 11% less food, converted food into eggs more efficiently, were heavier and laid larger eggs than those given the mash diets.

4. With whole grains yolk colour was less than with mash diets during the first 24 weeks of lay but this was reversed during the last 24 weeks of lay.

5. Either canthaxanthin or citranaxanthin or β‐apo‐8'‐carotenoic acid ethyl ester plus canthaxanthin in diets containing lucerne meal produced eggs with acceptable yolk colours.     

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.     

Studies on the avian shell gland during egg formation: The effect of acetazol‐amide on the transfer of ions to the albumen 1

1. Twenty‐five laying hens were fed on a diet containing 100 mg acetazolamide/kg in order to determine the effects of a decrease in the activity of carbonic anhydrase on the transfer of minerals to the egg albumen.

2. Treatment with acetazolamide decreased the rate of shell formation by 44%; reduced the concentrations of water and Na+ in the albumen at the beginning of the plumping stage but increased the accumulation of water during plumping; increased the concentration of Cl‐ in the albumen after the 6‐h stage without any appreciable change in K+ and Ca²⁺ concentrations.

3. The computed relationships between the concentrations of different ions also showed that the transfer of water and Na+ were linked during egg formation, that a water‐independent, acetazolamide‐sensitive reabsorption of Na+ occurred after the 10‐h stage and that Na+ and Cl‐moved simultaneously up to 14 h but with the ratio of Cl‐ to Na+ three times higher in the treated group.

4. It is concluded that acetazolamide impairs the transfer of Na+ and Cl‐ between the albumen and the extracellular fluid and that secretion of Ca²⁺ into the uterine lumen seems to depend on Na+ and Cl‐ reabsorption.     

Effects of age on the tryptophan requirement of laying hens

1. White Leghorn pullets which had been used for an assay of tryptophan requirement between 32 and 40 weeks of age were used for similar determinations between 63 and 73 and, after a moult, from 97 to 106 weeks of age.

2. A tryptophan‐limiting protein mixture was used and by dilution seven dietary protein contents were produced, supplying from 0.84 to 1–92 g tryptophan/kg diet. The diet of lowest protein content was also sup‐lemented with free tryptophan. These diets were fed in experiments using 24 groups of 72 pullets at 63 to 73 weeks and 45 groups of 21 hens at 97 to 106 weeks.

3. The relationship between egg output and tryptophan intake was the same in moulted hens as in young pullets, but pullets of 63 to 73 weeks of age yielded a different response curve; more tryptophan being needed for a given egg output.

4. It is concluded that tryptophan required, per day, does not decrease during the first laying year, despite a decrease in rate of egg output.     

Stability of abdominal fat and meat of broilers: Effect of duration of feeding antioxidants 1

1. The α‐tocopherol (AT) content of abdominal fat and fat stability increased as a function of the duration of α‐tocopheryl acetate (ATA) feeding in broilers fed on diets containing either 40 g acidulated soyabean‐oil soapstock (ASS) or tallow/kg. A linear relationship was observed between AT content of the adipose tissue and its stability with both types of fat supplements.

2. The stabilities of carcass fat and meat of 9‐week‐old broilers fed on diets containing ASS with 300 mg ethoxyquin (EQ)/kg or diets containing tallow with 20 mg ATA/kg from weeks 5 to 9 were comparable with those obtained by feeding these antioxidants and fats throughout the growth period.

3. ATA added to a diet containing ASS, and EQ, added to a diet containing tallow did not improve meat stability despite such an effect on adipose tissue when fed for 9 weeks. The results emphasise the importance of using the dietary antioxidant appropriate to the fat supplement to improve carcass stability.