Energy exchanges of broilers, selected for fatness and leanness, on diets with and without a repartitioning agent.

1. Two experiments were undertaken for 3 or 5 d in respiration chambers, on two experimental lines of broiler chickens (aged 25-38 d) selected for leanness and fatness. Diets were without or with 0.4 mg cimaterol per kg. 2. The lean line with sexes combined (experiment 1), or with females only, had a significantly greater heat production than the fat line. Net availability of metabolisable energy for gain (kg) was 0.54 for the lean birds and and 0.84 for the fat birds. 3. Cimaterol did not have an effect on any of the variables examined.     

Energy utilisation in germ-free and conventional chicks fed diets containing sorbose

1. In experiment 1, growing conventional (CV) chicks were fed on diets containing graded amounts (0, 100, 200 and 300 g/kg diet) of sorbose from 4 to 14 d. Protein, fat and energy deposition were determined after carcase analysis. The values for growth, food efficiency, metabolisable energy (ME) and fat and energy depositions declined as the dietary sorbose content increased. 2. In experiment 2, the performances of germ-free (GF) and CV chicks fed on diets with (100 g sorbose/kg diet) or without sorbose were investigated. On both diets, body weight gain, food consumption and protein accumulation in GF chicks were significantly higher than those in CV birds. No significant differences were observed between the dietary treatment except for ME values, which were significantly lower for the sorbose diet. 3. It is suggested that dietary sorbose decreased energy utilisation, and that the microbial contribution to the utilisation of dietary sorbose was negligible in the chicken.     

Effects of high concentrations of dietary vitamin E and ethoxyquin on the performance of laying hens

1. Three experiments were carried out with light strain laying hens to evaluate the effects of relatively high doses of dietary vitamin E (125 mg/kg food) or ethoxyquin (EQ) (250 mg/kg food) on their laying performance. The control diet contained 5 and 125 mg/kg vitamin E and EQ, respectively. The experimental diets were fed either from one or 32 weeks until 88 or 89 weeks of age. 2. The two antioxidants did not affect the growth of the pullets, age at first egg, final body weight, average egg weight or relative abdominal fat pad size and liver weight at the termination of the experiments. In two out of three experiments, vitamin E and EQ did not affect egg production, food efficiency or mortality; in the third experiment vitamin E significantly (P less than 0.05) improved egg production and food efficiency after an outbreak of Newcastle disease which occurred at 34 weeks of age. EQ significantly reduced mortality during the course of this experiment, but did affect the variables of performance. In two experiments vitamin E consistently improved shell density, although a significant effect was observed in only one of the eight determinations carried out. EQ did not affect this variable. 3. The uterine muscle was more susceptible to oxidation than the drumstick meat, as evaluated by TBA values. In both tissues, vitamin E significantly and consistently decreased TBA values and restricted their increase during incubation, while EQ was less effective, particularly in the drumstick meat. 4. It is concluded that increasing vitamin E and EQ concentrations in diets of laying hens have no effect on the decrease in egg production due to aging. However, vitamin E may minimize the decline in egg production and food efficiency following the outbreaks of some diseases and slightly improve--under certain yet undefined conditions--shell density.     

Diluted rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis (Muller), extract as culture medium stimulates hatching of red sea bream, Pagrus major (Temminck & Schlegel)

Hatching rates and hatching times (50% hatch) of red sea bream, Pagrus major (Temminck & Schlegel), eggs in culture media that were prepared to dilute rotifer Brachionus plicatilis Muller extract at 4000-, 6000-. 8000- and 10 000-fold with artificial sea water (σ₁₅, = 24.0) were investigated. Although differences in hatching rate between the culture media and control artificial sea water were negligible, hatching time was significantly shorter in media at 4000- and 6000-fold dilutions than in media at 8000- and 10 000-fold dilutions and in the control artificial sea water, when the eggs immediately post spawning were incubated. The hatching rates of eggs at three developmental stages, immediately post-spawning, gastrula stage and heart-beat initiation stage, incubated respectively in the medium at 6000-fold dilution and the control, did not differ either, yet the hatching times at each egg stage in the medium were significantly shorter than that in the control. These results suggest that hatching enzyme secretion from the hatching glands is promoted to perceive chemical stimuli in the water-soluble fraction of rotifer extract via the embryo's chemoreceptors, from the heart-beat initiation stage to immediately before hatching, thus shortening the hatching time.     

Design of field trials for the evaluation of antibacterial products for therapy of bovine clinical mastitis

In this paper, the design and statistical analysis of field trials for the evaluation of the efficacy of clinical mastitis therapeutics is covered. First, general issues underlying the design of clinical trials are reviewed. These include bias and confounding; randomization and blocking; and study objectives and choice of the corresponding hypothesis. Specific issues in the design of clinical mastitis trials are also discussed. Selection of subjects is discussed with regard to choice of experimental units, identification of reference population and study population, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and sample size calculation. Next, a section on treatment administration and evaluation of cure reviews treatment, blinding, choice of response measure, as well as compliance, withdrawal, and early termination. The statistical analysis section addresses possible statistical models, treatment of confounding, and fixed vs. random effects. In conclusion, well-conducted clinical mastitis trials represent an invaluable, albeit difficult and expensive, effort to evaluate efficacy and tolerance under usual circumstances of use.