Behaviour of roaster chickens towards an automatic weighing perch

1. Automatic weighing equipment was tested on a flock of 752 roaster chickens reared on litter to 10 weeks of age.

2. Mean body weights obtained automatically were lower than those obtained manually, mainly because of birds perching on the automatic weighing perch with part of their body in contact with the floor.

3. Birds observed on the weighing perch on one day of the week were 3–5 times more likely to use the perch again on the following 2 d than expected on the basis of random perch use by flock members. These birds were also more likely to be seen in the area immediately surrounding the perch than in similar areas elsewhere in the pen.     

Caprine beta-Mannosidosis in Kids from an Ontario Herd

Caprine β-mannosidosis, a fatal inherited deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme β-mannosidase, was diagnosed in neonatal female Nubian crossbred twin kids from a small herd near Guelph, Ontario. The kids had been tetraplegic since birth, with whole body tremors, abnormal nystagmus and an intention tremor of the head.     

Seismic stress effects on reproductive structures of tomato, potato, and marigold

Periodic seismic (shaking) stress influenced the growth of sexual and asexual reproductive structures of three cultivated species. It delayed anthesis of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Patio' but not of Tagetes erecta L. 'Jubilee' or Solanum tuberosum L. 'Kennebec'. Shaken 'Jubilee' marigold plants produced the same number of flowers as undisturbed plants, but flowers of shaken plants were smaller. In contrast, seismic-stressed 'Patio' tomato produced fewer buds and flowers, but fruit set was enhanced relative to that of controls. Seismic stress also reduced tuber weight of 'Kennebec' potato, whereas tuber number was unaffected. The overall effect of seismic stress was to reduce the growth of reproductive structures and, in some cases, the number of reproductive structures that developed.     

Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the cretaceous-tertiary boundary

As a result of the radioactive decay of rhenium-187 (4.6 x 10(10) years) the osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio changes in planetary systems as a function of time and the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio. For a value of the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 3.2, typical of meteorites and the earth's mantle, the present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio is about 1. The earth's continental crust has an estimated rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 400, so that for a mean age of the continent of 2 x 10(9) years, a present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 10 is expected. Marine manganese nodules show values (6 to 8.4) compatible with this expectation if allowance for a 25 percent mantle osmium supply to the oceans is allowed. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary iridium-rich layer in the marine section at Stevns Klint, Denmark, yields an osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of 1.65, and the one in a continental section in the Raton Basin, Colorado, is 1.29. The simplest explanation is that these represent osmium imprints of predominantly meteoritic origin.