Effect of halofuginone (Stenorol) on Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar).

This study was conducted to assess the effect of the coccidiostat halofuginone (Stenorol) on growth, feed consumption, and survival of Chukar partridge. Halofuginone was fed to three replicates (14 chicks per replicate) of chukar chicks from 2 to 7 d of age at levels of 0, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0 and 12 ppm. Mortality from 2 to 7 d was 0, 0, 0, 11, and 21 birds, respectively, by treatment. Seven-day body weight showed a significant linear decrease with increasing halofuginone level (P < 0.01). On the 7th d, replicates receiving 6.0 and 12.0 ppm halofuginone were transferred to unmedicated feed for the remainder of the test due to excessive mortality. The other groups were continued until 6 wk of age. At 6 wk, chicks fed 6 or 12 ppm halofuginone from 2 to 7 d and then unmedicated feed did not differ in body weight from those fed the unmedicated control diet. A significant difference in mortality was not observed among the other three treatment groups to 6 wk of age. A linear depression in 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-wk body weight with increasing halofuginone level was observed within the first three treatment levels (P < 0.05). It was concluded that 1.5 ppm halofuginone depressed growth of young chukars and that 6 ppm resulted in increased mortality.

Effect of diet on growth and plasma ascorbic acid in chicks.

Six experiments were conducted to study the effect of diet on growth and plasma ascorbic acid in chickens. D-Glucuronolactone failed to improve growth with either a crude yeast-fish meal diet or a purified diet based on casein and gelatin. With the purified diet, D-glucuronic acid and L-gulonolactone also failed to improve growth and did not influence plasma ascorbic acid levels. Dietary ascorbic acid improved growth of chicks with a purified diet in most cases, but not with a corn-soybean diet. Meat meal and fish meal caused slight increases in plasma ascorbic acid, whereas soybean meal, safflower meal, and cottonseed meal caused greater increases when used in a purified diet. Gulonolactone oxidase activity in the kidney was not different between chicks fed the purified or the corn-soybean diets, but was reduced by 0.1% dietary ascorbic acid. The mechanism for the increase in plasma ascorbic acid with the addition of soybean meal and other plant protein sources to the diet is not known.

Availability to chicks of biotin from dried egg products.

Two feeding experiments were conducted with duplicate groups of five chicks each to study the availability of biotin in spray-dried egg products. In the first experiment chicks that were fed diets containing 43% dried whole egg (DWE) grew poorly and developed perosis and dermatitis. The signs were prevented and growth improved progressively with supplementation of 0.5 and 1.0 mg biotin/kg diet. In the second experiment dried egg yolk (DEY) and dried egg white (DEW) were compared with DWE at equivalent levels of egg components. Signs of biotin deficiency and reduced growth were slightly more severe with DEW than with DWE, although liver biotin content was slightly lower at 0 and 0.5 mg biotin/kg with DWE than with DEW. Growth with DEY and no added biotin was not different from that with DEY and 500 or 1000 mg biotin/kg diet, although liver biotin was lower than when supplemental biotin was added. Liver fat was approximately five times greater in the groups receiving DWE and DEY than in the groups receiving DEW. The results show that the biotin contained in egg yolk is inadequate to counteract the deficiency of biotin caused by the avidin in egg white so that unheated dried whole egg is deficient in this vitamin.

Effects of dietary biotin and linoleate on polyunsaturated fatty acids in tissue phospholipids.

Two experiments with factorial designs were conducted to study the interaction between dietary biotin and linoleate in male broiler chicks. Chicks were fed a purified basal diet containing varying levels of d-biotin (0, 200, or 400 micrograms/kg diet) and linoleate. In Experiment 1, chicks were fed the basal diet containing three levels of added linoleate (.5, 3.1, or 4.1% of diet) for each biotin level and in Experiment 2, four levels of linoleate were fed (.27, .98, 2.00, or 2.20% of diet). The average body weights of chicks fed biotin at 200 micrograms/kg of diet and .27 or .5% added linoleate were not different (P greater than .05) from those of chicks fed higher levels of biotin or linoleate supplements to the basal diets. Linoleate deficiency resulted in elevated omega-9 fatty acids (18:1 omega 9 and 20:3 omega 9) in liver and heart phospholipids. For liver phospholipids, linoleate deficiency led to reduced 18:2 omega 6, 20:3 omega 6, and 20:4 omega 6 but for heart phospholipids only 20:4 omega 6 was lowered. Biotin deficiency resulted in elevated 18:3 omega 6 in liver and heart lipids and decreased 20:3 omega 6 in liver phospholipids. Liver microsomes from biotin-deficient chicks contained increased 18:2 omega 6 and reduced 20:3 omega 6 compared with those of biotin-adequate chicks.

Dietary biotin effects on polyunsaturated fatty acids in chick tissue lipids and prostaglandin E2 levels in freeze-clamped hearts.

Chicks were fed a purified diet with 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 micrograms/kg diet of added biotin to determine the effects of biotin deficiency on polyunsaturated fatty acids in tissue lipids. Body weight was reduced by biotin deficiency and liver and heart biotin levels varied with the biotin in the diet. Fatty acids in liver and lung from biotin-deficient chicks at 15 days contained elevated (P less than .03) 18:3 omega 3 and 18:2 omega 6 but prostaglandin precursors 20:3 omega 6 and 20:4 omega 6 were reduced (P less than .03) in liver lipids. Heart tissues from 15-day-old chicks fed the biotin-deficient diet were low (P less than .03) in 20:3 omega 6. Feeding acetylsalicylic acid in diets containing added biotin (0, 100, 400, and 500 micrograms/kg) did not significantly alter fatty acid levels in chick tissue lipids but significantly reduced plasma prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Biotin deficiency reduced heart PGE2 levels in 22-day-old chicks. An 8-h fast reduced (P less than .04) 20:4 omega 6 in chick heart total fatty acids.

Nutritional qualities of stabilized and raw rice bran for chicks.

Rice bran either raw or processed in an extrusion cooker at 130 C was fed to meat strain chickens for 25 days after hatch. Either full fat or hexane-extracted rice bran was placed in the diet at the equivalent of 60% full fat bran. Raw full fat bran for one diet was stored at -23 C until fed, whereas rice bran for all other diets was stored at 32 C. Four experiments were conducted at 6-week intervals. Free fatty acid (FFA) content in oil from raw rice bran stored at the elevated temperature reached 81% by the start of the final experiment whereas FFA in stabilized bran oil remained at about 3%. Chickens fed stabilized rice bran made significantly greater gains than chickens fed raw bran diets. Feed efficiency was superior for chickens fed either full fat or extracted stabilized bran compared with full fat bran stored at either 32 or -23 C. Feed conversion for extracted raw bran was intermediate between stabilized bran and full fat raw bran. Raw bran stored at 32 C (with elevated FFA content) tended to produce lower gains than the frozen raw bran. Analysis of the combined data from all four trials indicated that raw bran held at 32 C produced the lowest gains among all of the diets.

Tissue lipid fatty acid composition of biotin-adequate and biotin-deficient chicks.

Male broiler chicks were fed a purified ingredient diet containing various levels of added biotin to study dietary biotin effects on polyunsaturated fatty acids in selected tissues. Chicks were fed a basal diet containing adequate or deficient levels of added biotin and an additional group was fed a natural ingredient practical diet as a control. No significant differences in average body weights were found in chicks at 21 days fed 200 micrograms or more of biotin or the stock mash diet. Liver and heart biotin levels were lower in chicks fed less than 200 micrograms of biotin (P less than .01). At 21 days of age, the liver fatty acids of biotin-deficient chicks contained greatly (P less than .05) elevated c16:l, 18:ln9, 18:2n6, 18:3n6, and 18:3n3, whereas 20:3n6 and 20:4n6 were significantly lowered (P less than .05). Heart fatty acids c16:l and 18:2n6 of 21-day-old biotin-deficient chicks were elevated (P less than .05) and 18:3n3, 20:3n6, and 20:5n3 were lowered (P less than .05). It appears that the impaired conversion of 18:2n6 to 20:4n6 in liver tissue from biotin-deficient chicks at 3 weeks can result in lowered prostaglandin precursors not only in the liver but in the heart and muscle lipids as well. Changes in the brain and lung lipids are less marked.

Use of plasma and egg yolk biotin of white Leghorn hens to assess biotin availability from feedstuffs.

A linear relationship (r greater than .98) was found between the level of dietary biotin and plasma and egg-yolk biotin in White Leghorn hens after feeding the experimental diets for 2 weeks. This shows high reliability of these parameters as indicators of biotin availability. When plasma and egg yolk biotin were used to assess biotin availability in feedstuffs, they indicated low values for wheat (0%) and sorghum (10 to 20%) and high values for corn (75 to 100%), soybean meal (100%), and meat and bone meal (85%). When these parameters were used to assess commercial poultry diets, they indicated values for a "layer" diet of 75 to 100% and for a "broiler" diet of 81 to 92%. Pelleting gave an increase in biotin availability of 10% over the mash diet. This method for assessing biotin availability promises to be simple, economic, rapid, and reliable.

Drinking water treatment with a commercial preparation of a concentrated Lactobacillus culture for broiler chickens.

Three hundred male broiler chicks were used to determine the effects of supplying Lactobacillus in the drinking water. The product used, Biomax 40TM, was a fresh-frozen, pure culture of Lactobacillus containing 40 X 10(9) cfu/ml. Water treatments consisted of continuous lactobacilli dosing (CD) and skip-a-day lactobacilli dosing (SAD). A control group (C) received no lactobacilli. Each treatment and control contained two pens of 50 chicks each and were fed for a duration of 7 weeks. At the termination of the experiment, weights of the wet viscera, and wet and dry small intestines of the broilers revealed no significant differences between treatments and control. Surface pH readings taken from crop and duodenum showed that there was no significant difference (P greater than .05). Microbiology performed on duodenal contents revealed higher numbers of lactobacilli for CD and SAD broilers than for C broilers. The liver biotin contents of the lactobacilli-treated broilers were not significantly different from those of the controls. Body weights were not changed by either treatment, although they were greater for the CD broilers than for the SAD broilers. No difference was observed in feed conversion (feed/gain).

Failure of dietary leucine to influence the tryptophan-niacin pathway in the chicken.

Three experiments were conducted with young chicks to determine whether dietary leucine affects the conversion of tryptophan to niacin. Either tryptophan or niacin improved growth and reduced perosis when chicks were fed a purified diet marginal in tryptophan and deficient in niacin. Addition of 4.8% L-leucine to the diet did not alter the growth and perosis prevention response obtained with tryptophan. Liver weight was slightly increased by the addition of 5.4% L-leucine to the diet. Plasma insulin was slightly reduced by leucine and by isoleucine and valine. Picolinic carboxylase in the kidney was reduced in chicks fed 0.2% tryptophan with no niacin and was also reduced when isoleucine and valine were added to the diets. Liver picolinic carboxylase activity was not influenced by diet. Plasma isoleucine and valine were reduced by the addition of leucine to the diet and were increased again when isoleucine and valine were added to the diet. Plasma leucine was increased by the addition of leucine but was not altered by valine and isoleucine. Plasma tryptophan was not influenced by dietary supplements of leucine or isoleucine and valine. The results show that in the chick there is no evidence for an effect of leucine on the tryptophan to niacin pathway.

Effect of Lactobacillus inoculation and antibiotic feeding of chickens on availability of dietary biotin.

Oral inoculation with Lactobacillus acidophilus and dietary supplementation with antibiotics were compared in broiler chicks fed various levels of biotin to determine their effect on the biotin status of the chicks. Lactobacillus acidophilus inoculation of broiler chickens fed a diet marginally deficient in biotin (56 micrograms/kg) caused a significant decrease (P less than .01) in their liver biotin content from 1596 to 931 ng/g. The decrease biotin status was confirmed by significant increases (P less than .01) in 16:1 and 18:1 plasma fatty acids and significant decreases (P less than .01) in 18:0 and 20:4 omega 6 plasma fatty acids. These alterations in fatty acids were only observed when the samples were taken from chickens in the fed condition. Supplementation with Lactobacillus caused an increased incidence of foot dermatitis and decreased growth of chickens, presumably by competing with the chicken for dietary biotin. No significant changes were noted with antibiotic feeding.

Effect of oral dosing of Lactobacillus strains on gut colonization and liver biotin in broiler chicks.

Strains of host specific (KTM, 74/1, and 59) and nonhost specific (40) lactobacilli were orally dosed to day-old broiler chicks. Dose levels consisted of: 5.0, 7.0, and 9.0 log10 cfu/day for 21 days. Each treatment and control group (placebo, no culture) contained three replications of 6 chicks in Experiment 1 (strains 40 and KTM) and 7 chicks in Experiment 2 (strains 74/1 and 59). Dosing of 7.0 log10 cfu and above tended to depress chick growth. Fecal shedding of lactobacilli were the same (8.8 log10 cfu) for all dose levels on Day 5 but decreased on Day 14 for strains KTM and 40. For strains 74/1 and 59 at all dose levels, the fecal shedding of lactobacilli was 9.9 log10 cfu for Day 5 and 8.5 log10 cfu for Day 14. Microbiology was performed on contents of the crop and ileum and on the tissue macerates from the crop, ileum, and ceca from chicks killed on Days 7 and 21 of the experiments. Chicks dosed with strains 59 and KTM had lower numbers of coliforms in cecal macerates than the control and chicks dosed with strains 40 and 74/1. No significant differences were observed in lactobacilli found in contents and tissues between 5.0 and 9.0 log10 cfu for all lactobacilli strains dosed. There was a trend for the liver biotin to be higher in chicks dosed with 7.0 log10 cfu than chicks dosed with 5.0 or 9.0 log10 cfu or no culture, but the difference was not significant (P greater than .05).

Effect of high fat and iron levels on the growth and mortality of chickens.

Four experiments were conducted with chicks to determine whether the heating of vegetable oil and its contamination with iron might have detrimental effects upon its use in chicken diets. Soybean oil and safflower oil heated at 230 C for 51 hr and linseed oil heated at 240 C for 24 hr gave reduced growth when fed to chickens at 20 percent of the diet. Heating soybean oil at 175 C for 51 hr had no detrimental effect. However, iron at 5000 ppm depressed growth significantly when fed in a low fat diet. The depression was greatly reduced when soybean oil was fed at 10 or 20% of the diet. A different lot of soybean oil was found to cause skin dermatitis and high mortality when fed at 20% of the diet due to its physical contamination on the skin.

Potassium deficiency in the adult male chicken.

Adult male chickens, which were maintained on a low dietary potassium intake for 11 weeks showed no gross abnormalities, but had significantly reduced feed intake and losses of body weight. Adult male chickens had a physiological capacity to increase the biological half life of their body potassium from 18 to 134 days when the dietary potassium was reduced from .32 to .02%. However, the deficient birds were unable to balance their intake with the excretion because of the obligatory loss of potassium. The relative specific activity of different tissues in adult male chickens determined at different time intervals after the intravenous injection of potassium-42 indicated that the plasma pool potassium had the highest turnover rate of potassium in the body. In decreasing order, it was followed by the skin, heart, liver, intestine, bone, and muscle. The daily balance of potassium in adult male chickens maintained under optimum and sub-optimum dietary potassium intake gave an estimated minimum requirement for this element of .06% of the diet.

Interrelationship between dietary pyridoxine and free plasma amino acids in chicks.

The interrelationships between dietary pyridoxine and free plasma amino acids in young chicks were studied with two different diets. Chicks fed isolated soybean protein supplemented with less than 1.0 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg diet had reduced body weight gain and feed consumption and a higher mortality rate (19%) than those fed 1 or 5 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg. A casein diet required greater supplementation (2.0 mg pyridoxine/kg) to prevent reduced body weight gain and depressed feed intake. The concentrations of free plasma taurine, threonine, and serine were significantly lower in chicks fed the isolated soybean protein diet supplemented with less than 1.0 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg, while those of isoleucine, valine, glycine, and ornithine were significantly higher than in chicks fed greater levels of pyridoxine. Supplementation of casein diets with less than 2.0 mg resulted in a significant accumulation of threonine, glycine, cystathionine, and ornithine. Valine was significant higher in chicks fed casein supplemented with only .6 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg. Feeding isolated soybean protein or casein diets without any pyridoxine supplementation resulted in the dealth of 95% and 100% of the chicks, respectively. Pair feeding a group fed the isolated soybean protein diet supplemented with 1.0 mg to a group receiving .5 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg resulted in a similar body weight gain and concentration of amino acids in the plasma.

Methionine toxicity in chicks and poults.

In feeding experiments with poults, 2% DL-methionine caused a marked growth depression which could be alleviated by the addition of glycine. Homocystine at an equimolar level depressed growth to a lesser degree than methionine, and this growth depression could be alleviated by glycine. Betaine could alleviate the growth depression of homocystine but not that of methionine. Methionine-fed poults developed a cervical paralysis similar to that of a folic acid deficiency, but the addition of this vitamin at several times the requirement was ineffective in counteracting the toxicity of methionine in either chicks or poults.

Effect of NTA and EDTA on calcium metabolism of chickens and Coturnix.

Five experiments were conducted in which various levels of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA or its salt, Na2NTA) disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Na2EDTA) and calcium (Ca) were fed to young chicks, young quail and adult quail. The duration of trials was from 1 to 28 days of age for chicks, 7 to 49 for young quail and 167 to 210 for adult quail. Feeding 0.71% NTA or an equimolar level of Na2NTA caused a moderate decrease in chicks weight and Na2EDTA caused a drastic decrease in body weight of chicks and adult quail. Feeding Na2EDTA caused greater mortality in chicks receiving a low Ca diet than a higher level of Ca. Plasma Ca levels were significantly increased by NTA in young quail and by Na2NTA in adult quail, in contrast, they were significantly decreased by Na2EDTA in adult quail. Dietary NTA promoted greater tibia mineralization (ash/dry matter) in growing chicks. Dietary NTA increased the deposition of zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) in the chicks tibia, but, it decreased magnesium (Mg). On the other hand, Na2EDTA caused a significant decrease in Zn and Fe in the chicks tibia and a significant increase in Mn. Coturnix are less sensitive than chickens in responding to dietary chelates.

The folacin requirements of broiler chicks and quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Six experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary composition on the folacin requirement of broiler chicks and to determine the folacin requirement of growing Japanese quail. The folacin requirement of both chicks and quail could not be determined when an isolated soybean protein based diet containing 0.44 mg. folacin per kilogram was used. Dietary composition affects folacin requirement of growing broiler chicks. Three values for the folacin requirement of growing broiler chicks were determined when three different basal diets were fed. With a low-glycine, casein based diet, growth was limited more by glycine than folic acid which improved growth only at 1.69 mg./kg. When 0.7% glycine was added to this casein diet, the folacin requirement was determined to be between 0.34 and 0.49 mg./kg. diet. However, with a casein-gelatin based diet, the folacin requirement was found to be between 0.12 and 0.27 mg./kg diet. Folacin deficiency in growing Japanese quail caused poor feathering, high mortality, leg weakness and cervical paralysis. A curly-toe system was observed in coturnix chicks fed low levels of folacin and might also be a consequence of folacin deficiency. The folacin requirement of growing Japanese quail was found to be 0.30 to 0.36 mg./kg. diet when a casein-gelatin based diet was fed.