British Poultry Science

Campbell, L. D.; Smith, T. K.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416573pmid: N/A

1. The feeding of diets high in rapeseed meal to broiler chicks caused enlargement of the liver and may have caused some mortality. 2. High‐glucosinolate Brassica napus rapeseed meal caused a higher incidence of haemorrhagic livers among broiler chicks than did B. campestris meal and a low‐glucosinoate B. napus meal was without effect. 3. White Leghorn cockerels were of little use in studying the aetiology of haemorrhagic liver after feeding rapeseed meal if mortality was used as a criterion. They may be of value in studies of liver function.

Campbell, L. D.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416574pmid: 497868

1. There was a marked strain difference in the incidence of hepatic haemorrhage in White Leghorn hens receiving dietary rapeseed meal (RSM). 2. Tolerance to high dietary contents of RSM also varied between individual birds within a strain. 3. Glucosinolates were implicated in the development of hepatic haemorrhage among hens receiving dietary RSM but the exact relationship was not clear.

Vince, Margaret A.; Clarke, J. V.; Reader, Margaret R.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416575pmid: 497869

1. In eggs turned about 12 times daily, around the long axis of the egg and through about 180°, significant increases in heart rate occurred during turning on the 15th and 17th, although not on the 16th, d of incubation. 2. On and after the 18th d heart rate increases were more marked and occurred both during and after turning. 3. When a single group of embryos was turned every day for the last 4 d of incubation there were significant increases in heart rate on the last 3 d: this repeated retesting had no effect on the response to turning.

Bulla, J.; Kolataj, A.; Granát, J.; Zelník, J.; Grom, A.; Dobálová, M.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416576pmid: 497870

1. Enzyme activities were studied in blood plasma from Rhenish, Italian, Landes and Masseubian geese. 2. Strains used for liver production (Landes, Masseubian) showed higher activities of aspartate transaminase (AST) [EC 2.6.1.1], alanine transaminase (ALT) [EC 2.6.1.2] and fructose aldolase (FRA) [EC 4.1.2.13] while breeds with high egg production (Rhenish, Italian) had higher activities of both alkaline phosphatase (ALP) [EC 3.1.3.1] and acid phosphatase (ACP) [EC 3.1.3.2].

Oluyemi, J. A.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416577pmid: N/A

1. Agonistic interactions were observed over a 24‐week period in Rhode Island Red and in Nigerian local fowl aged 32 weeks or 12 weeks at the start of the experiments. 2. Agonistic interactions were both more numerous and more severe (fights and peck avoidances) in groups of the local breed than in those of Rhode Island Reds. 3. The outcome of severe interactions favoured local males and Rhode Island females in the first experiment and Rhode Island males in the second. 4. Small body and comb size might account for the relatively high number of agonistic interactions and the submissiveness of local females and young males while physical strength or some other breed characteristic might account for the high number of agonistic interactions of local males as well as their dominance in breed encounters.

Potter, L. M.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416578pmid: N/A

1. The metabolisable energy (ME) contents of dried brewers grains and of dried brewers grains with yeast were 5.51 +0.69 and 7.20 ±0.69 MJ/kg dry matter or 0.25 + 0.03 and 0.34 + 0.03 of their respective gross energy contents. 2. In these respective ingredients, the apparent digestibility coefficients of protein were, 0.66 + 0.08 and 0.69 + 0.08; of fat, 0.49 + 0.16 and 0.64 + 0.16; of dry matter 0.14 + 0.05 and 0.24 + 0.05, while fibre and nitrogen‐free extract (NFE) were not digested. 3. In balanced low‐protein diets formed by adding glucose to a high‐protein diet, the ME content of glucose was 15.12 + 0.44 MJ/kg dry matter or 0.97 ± 0.03 of its gross energy content, while the apparent digestibility coefficient of its NFE was 0–99 + 0–02, and that of its dry matter was 1.02 + 0.04. 4. Imbalancing diets greatly by removing or adding glucose to a balanced diet did not affect the nutrient digestibility or the ME of glucose, indicating that the basic assumption of linearity of these measurements with dietary content of the test ingredient was valid.

Yule, W. J.; Fuelling, D. E.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416579pmid: N/A

1. The effect of restricted feeding on performance and carcass characteristics of broilers was determined in three experiments. 2. In the first experiment, removal of food for 8 h/d from 42 to 56 d of age significantly improved food conversion efficiency of broilers on deep litter. Removal of food for 16 h/d or on alternate days tended to cause slower growth and also improved conversion efficiency. 3. In the second experiment, denial of food for 8 h/d did not significantly affect either growth rate or conversion efficiency of caged broilers. Denial of food on alternate days, from 28 d of age, depressed food intake and growth rate. Food restriction decreased dressing percentage regardless of the age of introduction. With 32, 40 or 48 h food denial each 72 h there was a large depression in growth rate and dressing percentage. Carcass dry matter was also less, indicating less carcass fat, when food was denied for 48 h each 72 h. 4. In the third experiment, growth rate of broilers on deep litter was significantly improved by denying food for 8 h/d from 28 d of age, and was significantly depressed by food denial on alternate days. This depression was significantly more severe if restriction started at 28 d rather than at 42 d of age. Conversion efficiency was not significantly improved by denial for 8 h/d. 5. In the last two experiments conversion efficiency was much worse in severe restriction.

Griffin, R. M.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416580pmid: N/A

1. The effect of feeding diets supplemented with procaine penicillin (50 mg/kg), zinc bacitracin (25 mg/kg) or nitrovin (20 mg/kg) singly or in combinations on the performance of broiler cockerels from 1 to 56 d was assessed. 2. The growth of treated birds was significantly better than that of controls fed on a basal diet, but no combination of additives was significantly superior to the additives given singly. 3. Performance up to 56 d of birds fed continuously on a diet supplemented with zinc bacitracin (25 mg/kg) from 1 d old was better than that obtained when the supplement was either introduced or withdrawn at different ages.

Garwood, V. A.; Lowe, P. C.; Haugh, C. G.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416581pmid: N/A

1. A method was developed for measuring the rate of egg breakage under random impact loading of samples from sire families. 2. Bidirectional selection, based upon sire‐family means, was made over a single generation using egg breakage rate as the basis of selection: significant differences were obtained after one generation. 3. Heritability of the rate of egg breakage was estimated as 0.48 + 0.05.

Salmon, R. E.

doi: 10.1080/00071667908416582pmid: N/A

1. Processing losses, weights of inedible and edible offals and eviscerated carcass yields were determined for turkeys of each sex of a medium white strain killed at 18 weeks of age. Eviscerated carcass yields were comparable with those previously reported for 24‐week‐old turkeys of a heavy strain. 2. The yields of skin, meat and bone of individual skeletal components and of the entire carcass were determined and found to be generally similar to the yields reported for turkeys of heavy strains. 3. The crude protein, fat and moisture composition of meat and skin samples and the edible offal components were determined. Tissue samples from females, other than breast meat, contained more fat and less moisture than the corresponding samples from male carcasses.