Factors affecting the use of perches in cages by laying hens

1. Three experiments were carried out with ISA Brown laying hens housed in individual cages with softwood perches of rectangular cross section fitted across the width of each cage, to investigate factors affecting the tendency of hens to lay their eggs from the perches and to use perches at other times. These factors were perch width and angle and method of perch introduction. 2. In experiment 1 there were 4 treatments. Perches were 38 or 60 mm wide; half of each width were flat and half were fixed at 8 , parallel to the slope of the floor. In 2 similar trials (with 48 and 44 birds respectively, equally divided between treatments) birds were moved to experimental cages already fitted with perches. Birds with 38 mm, sloping perches laid less than one third of their eggs from the perch (31% and 9% in the two trials) while those with the other designs laid more than 80% from the perch. Narrow sloping perches were not otherwise aversive and there was no consistent variation between treatments in total time perching. 3. In experiment 2, 32 birds were allowed to start laying on the floor of the experimental cages then perches were introduced at 24 weeks with 8 birds on each of 4 treatments: 50 mm perches fixed flat and 38 mm perches fixed flat, and at 5 and 10 respectively. Only 27% of eggs were laid from the perches with no variation between treatments either in this behaviour or in total time perching. 4. Experiment 3 provided 24 of the birds from experiment 2 with double-length perches to determine whether they showed preferences for the design features under consideration. Either half the perch length was flat and half sloping at 10 or half was 38 and half 50 mm wide. Again a relatively low proportion of eggs was laid from the perches (18%) and birds showed no significant preference for different perch designs as indicated by either how much they perched or where they perched. 5. These results suggest that both perch design and the way pullets are introduced to perches influence the proportion of perch-laid eggs. They confirm that in some circumstances laying from perches can be a serious problem, but that in other circumstances incidence can be reduced to a manageable frequency. Perches may therefore be practical in commercial production without increasing the number of cracked eggs. The results are also likely to be applicable in cages with other facilities including nest boxes.     

Esophageal Replacement in the Dog by Microvascular Colon Transfer

An orthotopic colon graft based on the middle colic artery and vein was implanted with microvascular technique and a stapling instrument in five dogs. The grafts were successful in four dogs. A similar colon autograft was used to replace the entire thoracic esophagus in five dogs. The recipient vessels were the left carotid artery and left external jugular vein. Four of the grafts failed because of kinking and thrombosis of the arterial supply (2 dogs) or the venous outflow (2 dogs). One graft, which had a viable vascular supply, developed a severe leak at the colon-to-stomach anastomosis, and the dog was euthanatized on day 3. The recipient vascular pedicle was modified and used successfully to replace a portion of the cervical esophagus in three dogs. The grafts survived, the dogs could swallow liquids and semisolid food well, and, at necropsy after 4 weeks, the anastomotic sites were well healed. The graft sites contained essentially normal colon mucosa.     

Some Effects of the Plantation of Conifers on a Freely Drained Lowland Soil, Forest of Dean, U.K.

Acid brown soils under 50-year-old conifer plantations are comparedwith those at a control site under the previous vegetation ofmixed deciduous woodland. The soils under the conifers showsignificant signs of podzolization and associated with this,evidence of structural breakdown. The implications of thesechanges are briefly discussed.     

The Effect of Starch Amendment on Nitrogen Mineralisation from the Forest Floor Beneath a Range of Conifers

Samples of LFH collected beneath the canopies of 16 coniferousspecies growing at the same site were incubated in the laboratorywith or without a starch amendment. Exchangeable nitrogen presentranged from 10.5–256 and 11.4–512 µgg^–1organic matter for freshly collected and unamended incubationsrespectively. When starch was added material from 11 speciesshowed significantly greater accumulation of mineral nitrogenwith increases ranging from ca 20–1370 per cent. Nitrificationwas negligible except in Thuja plicata where nitrate constituted68 or 83 per cent of the mineral nitrogen present after incubationwithout or with starch respectively. Starch addition increasedrates of net nitrogen mineralisation in LFH material from Piceasitchensis over a range of growth rates. Rates were greatestin material from the most productive stands whether or not starchwas added. The results are discussed with reference to the factorscontrolling litter decomposition and nitrogen mineralisationin the forest floor.     

Influences of mean advection and simple behavior on the distribution of cod and haddock early life stages on Georges Bank

Results of a modeling study designed to explore the influences of physical advection and certain biological mechanisms on the distribution of cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melarwgrammus aeglefinus) early life stages on Georges Bank are described. Using a late-winter/early-spring 3-D circulation field driven by the M₂ tidal current, mean wind stress and Scotian Shelf inflow, we examine the distribution of cod and haddock larvae spawned on the Northeast Peak of the Bank. The sensitivity to a March-April baroclinic field is also explored. Results indicate that larvae remaining in the surface Ekman layer are generally advected off-bank. However, downwelling associated with Ekman layer convergence near the shelf break provides a mechanism for larvae to exit from the off-bank surface drift. Larvae below the surface layer are transported south-westward along the southern flank of Georges Bank and are retained on the Bank if their position immediately upstream of the Great South Channel is shoalward of (roughly) the 70 m isobath. Within the Great South Channel region and between the 50 and 70 m isobaths, retention can depend on the phase of the tide. Spawning shoalward of the 50 m isobath on the Northeast Peak greatly increases the chances of retention. These results apply to passive larvae and to those with specified vertical distributions and migration based on observations. Directional on-bank swimming at rates of 0.5 to 1 body length per second would substantially enhance shoalward displacement, resulting in larval distributions during the first 2 months that are consistent with field observations.     

Sampling error resulting from depth-dependent plankton distributions and current differentials in a two-layered system

We evaluate a source of error observed in standard ichthyoplankton bongo tows in which volumes of water filtered did not result in increased catches of red-fish. Our analyses demonstrate that, under conditions where redfish larvae are distributed in surface waters in a two-layered system, current differentials between surface and subsurface layers resulted in biased, standardized estimates of larval abundances as a result of filtering varying amounts of subsurface waters. Analysis of standard survey results on Flemish Cap demonstrated that this source of bias was limited to the May-June period, after waters became stratified and before redfish passed from the larvae to pelagic juvenile stage. Correcting for this source of sampling bias wIII result in more accurate absolute estimates of ichthyoplankton abundance, and we estimate that variation (CV) for replicate samples may be reduced by 10%.     

A CRYSTALLINITY INDEX FOR SOIL KAOLINS AND ITS RELATION TO PARENT ROCK, CLIMATE AND SOIL MATURITY

To sub-divide the large group of kaolinitic soil clays a new empirical index of crystallinity was obtained from the X-ray diffraction patterns of eight standard kaolins. The index used is the ratio of the intensity above background of the peak at 4.46Å to the intensity above background at about 2.43Å (43.2° 2θ CoKα) and ranges from 4.8 for halloysite to 83 for a well-ordered triclinic kaolinite. For the kaolins from a group of soils from S.W. Nigeria, the ratio lies between 4.3 and 13.7 and can be tentatively related to the presence of weatherable minerals in the soil and/or the length of the dry season.