Effect of hypothalamic electrolytic lesions in White Leghorn and broiler male cockerels.

1. This study compared the effect of bilateral electrolytic lesions of the basomedial hypothalamus (HL) in broiler and White Leghorn (WL) males. 2. Hypothalamic lesions were placed in WL at 10 weeks of age (body weight 1.1 kg) and in broilers, either at 6 weeks (body weight 1.5kg) or at 10 weeks of age (body weight 3.4kg). They were fed ad libitum until autopsy at 16 and 17 weeks of age for broilers and WL, respectively. 3. Hypothalamic lesions caused obesity (high percentage weight of abdominal adipose tissue) in both strains. Obese fowls with unimpaired reproductive systems were classified as OB and those with functional castration as FC (functionally castrated) or FCLC (functionally castrated with large comb). 4. All post-HL syndromes-OB, FC and FCLC-were present in WL, whereas all obese broilers (which are immature at this age) were classified as OB. 5. The percentage weight of abdominal adipose tissue in OB broilers was lower than in OB WL (3% vs 5%, respectively). 6. Daily food intake of OB broilers was higher than control at 12 to 15 weeks of age, regardless of time of placement of HL, whereas daily food intake of OB WL was significantly higher than that of control WL only during the first 2 weeks following HL. 7. Body weight of OB broilers at autopsy was 20% higher than control broilers, whereas body weight of OB WL was not significantly affected. 8. An additional group of broilers was reared to sexual maturity under food restriction until 28 weeks of age. HL were placed at 10 weeks of age (body weight 1.7 kg). Autopsy was performed after a 4-week period of ad libitum feeding. 9. There were OB as well as FC and FCLC among the HL, food-restricted broilers. Percentage weight of testes and spleen were reduced in OB fowls of both strains, but more so in OB WL. 10. Hyperphagia and weight gain were not observed during the ad libitum feeding period of those obese broilers after HL, indicating that hyperphagia and weight gain are secondary to obesity.

Reproductive traits in the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca terrestris): new tools for the enhancement of reproductive success and survivorship.

The Mediterranean tortoise (Testudo graeca) is listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. Reproductive characteristics and means to increase offspring production were studied in T. graeca terrestris in a semi-natural environment. Courtship and mating occurred during early spring for about 4 weeks, followed by a laying season of approximately 2 months, with a second, shorter mating period in the fall. During the first mating, calcified eggs were already present in the uterus; we inferred that sperm from both mating seasons were stored in the oviduct for fertilization of eggs of the second laying cycle and of the following year. Average egg production was 3.8+/-0.3 eggs/year. Most females laid all of their eggs in a single clutch, but 18% laid in a second clutch, 11-21 days later. X-ray radiography revealed calcified eggs in the uterus about 4 weeks before oviposition. All eggs in the uterus were calcified simultaneously and were laid in a single clutch; if a second clutch developed, those eggs were also calcified simultaneously. Based on endoscopic examinations, ovaries were active throughout the entire year. Plasma progesterone concentrations in females were very low and were detected only soon after oviposition ( 440 +/-141 pg/ml). Plasma estradiol concentrations in females varied from 4.1 +/-1.5 pg/ml to 70.2 +/-29.4 pg/ml, with no clear seasonal pattern. Maintaining tortoises at a low environmental temperature (9 +/-1 degrees C versus 28 +/- 1 degrees C) reduced plasma estradiol concentrations. Giving 2mg/kg tamoxifen (TAM) increased plasma estradiol to 220 +/-33 pg/ml when treatment was given in September but not in late October, winter or spring. Treatment with TAM increased the number of eggs laid during the following laying season to 7.3 +/- 1.0 eggs/year, laid in one to three clutches. In males, plasma testosterone concentrations had a seasonal pattern with the onset of a rise in July from 2 to >4ng/ml, a continued increase to a peak of 12.8+/-5.3 ng/ml during November and a decline thereafter. Artificial incubation in sand at 29 +/-1 degrees C shortened the natural incubation time of 103+/-3.1 days to 83.5 +/- 1.3 days, increased hatching rate from 28 to 53%, and increased survival rate from 51 to 71% at 40 weeks of age. In summary, this study provides options for increasing reproductive performance, hatchability and offspring survival in captive Mediterranean tortoises, and may offer new tools for conservation of animals that are on the verge of extinction.

Method for collecting semen from the ostrich (Struthio camelus) and some of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics.

1. Four methods of semen collecting that involved interruption of mating in two breeding ostrich pairs were tested: an artificial vagina was tested without promising results; the funnel method, in which a funnel was placed under the phallus of the tested male immediately after mating allowing semen drips to be collected; the vacuum method, using a turkey semen collector, inserted into the seminal canal; and the tube method, conducted by placing a test tube inside the seminal canal, allowing semen to enter by gravity. 2. For the funnel, vacuum and tube methods, respectively, average semen volume was 0.1 +/- 0.02, 1.12 +/- 0.22, and 0.58 +/- 0.13 ml, sperm concentration was 0.66 +/- 0.14, 2.35 +/- 0.26, and 2.13 +/- 0.27 x 10(9) cells/ml, and percentage of abnormal cells was 5.82 +/- 1.79%, 4.68 +/- 1.19%, and 7.09 +/- 1.72%. 3. Semen characteristics varied throughout the reproductive season reaching peak concentration in June-July. 4. The vacuum method proved to be the most efficient and was a low stress, restraint-free method for collecting ostrich semen.

Glucocorticoid administration during incubation: embryo mortality and posthatch growth in chickens.

The effects of glucocorticoids (GC) on embryonic mortality and posthatch BW were studied. Cortisol hemisuccinate or corticosterone in 0.1-mL vehicles were injected into the albumen of 7-d-old White Leghorn chicken embryos. Embryonic mortality rates and the age after injection at which death occurred were determined. When 0.02 to 20 microg cortisol per egg were injected in saline, total embryonic mortality rate increased in a doseresponse manner, with a median lethal dose (LD50) at 10 microg. Saline injection alone caused a similar mortality rate to that caused by injection of 2 microg cortisol (around 35%). However, whereas mortality among the cortisol-treated embryos was greatest on Days 16 to 18, most of the saline-treated embryos died around the time of injection. The lethal effect of corticosterone, which is endogenous GC in adult chickens, was compared to that of cortisol by injecting both in the same vehicle (a saline:ethanol mixture) and was found to be similar. However, when 2, 10, or 20 microg of corticosterone was injected in oil, mortality rates were lower than those caused by the matching doses of cortisol in saline, probably due to the lower diffusion rate of the steroid out of the oil carrier. Hatch weight was significantly lower in chicks treated with 10 and 20 microg cortisol, and BW of the latter was lower compared with control throughout the 3-mo observation. In conclusion, cortisol and corticosterone are equally active in causing embryonic mortality. Posthatch BW is affected only by GC doses that are equal to or greater than the LD50.

The relationship between neural alterations and behavioral deficits after prenatal exposure to heroin.

The present studies employ multitudinous approaches in order to overcome the methodological obstacles in the understanding of the relationship between neurochemical alterations and behavioral deficits induced by heroin during prenatal development. Mice were exposed prenatally to heroin via daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg, on gestation days 9-18. At age 50 days, the heroin-exposed offspring displayed behavioral deficits as assessed in the eight-arm and Morris mazes, pointing to possible alteration in the septohippocampal cholinergic innervations. Biochemically there was increased presynaptic activity of these innervations as attested to by the increased [3H]hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) binding sites and by K+-stimulated inositol phosphate (IP) formation. Postsynaptically, there was global hyperactivation along the different components of the nerve conduction cascade, including an increase in M1 muscarinic receptor Bmax, a general increase in G-proteins (GP) including the most relevant, G subtype, and an increase in IP formation and in basal protein kinase C (PKC) activity. However, there was desensitization of PKC activity in response to cholinergic agonist in the heroin-exposed offspring. Transplantation of normal embryonic cholinergic cells to the impaired hippocampus reversed the behavioral deficits and both the pre- and postsynaptic hyperactivity and resensitized PKC activity. To support and further strengthen the findings of the neural grafting study, correlation of the heroin-induced behavioral deficits with the biochemical alterations, done within individuals, was applied. The results showed high r values for IP formation, basal PKC, and PKC desensitization. The r values for HC-3 binding were statistically significant but relatively low. Taken together, the findings of the neural grafting and correlation studies bring us closer to understanding the relationship between the prenatal heroin-induced biochemical and behavioral changes. However, mammalian models possess the inherent methodological hindrances, stemming from possible maternal effects. To provide a control for these confounding variables, a chick embryo model was applied in which filial imprinting, a behavior related to a specific hyperstriatal nucleus, served as an endpoint. Heroin was administered to developing chick embryos by injecting the eggs (20 mg/kg) on incubation days (ID) 0 or 5. Prehatch exposure to heroin markedly diminished the ability for filial imprinting in the hatched chicks.

Short-term stress increases testosterone secretion from testes in male domestic fowl.

Prolonged stress inhibits the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and reduces plasma testosterone (T). However, enhanced secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and T has been documented during the initial stages of acute stress in mammals. This study assayed the effect of short-term stress on plasma T and corticosterone (B) in juvenile, pubertal, and adult White Leghorn cockerels. Stress was induced by brief physical restraint of caged juvenile (7 weeks), pubertal (17 weeks), and adult (40 weeks) cockerels, as well as 40-week-old adults reared together in a room lined with wood shavings (group reared). Blood was sampled immediately before restraint (0 time), at the end of a 10-min restraint period, and at 30, 60, and 180 min after 0 time. Restraint resulted in an initial increase in plasma T in all groups, along with a rise in B. Whereas B generally reached its peak level at the end of the restraining period, T peaked 20 min later. The maximum increase of T and B relative to prestress levels (T and B ratios) was similar in all groups, with median T ratio reaching 1.25-1. 5-about half that of the B ratio. Thus, the extent of T and B response to short-term stress was not influenced by basal levels of T, which were highest in adults, and basal levels of B, which were higher in caged adults than in group-reared adults. Injection of ACTH did not induce a greater increase in plasma T than in sham-injected controls. Further, the elevation of T in response to stress was extinguished in castrated adults, indicating that T is secreted from the testes rather than the adrenals in response to stress. When the same regime of blood sampling was applied to adults not subjected to restraint, the T ratio rose by up to 11 times. It can therefore be stipulated that T response depends on the type of stress applied, a factor that should be considered when investigating androgen levels in plasma.

Inhibition of food intake by CRF in chickens.

The effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) on food and water intake and on body temperature in chickens was determined. Both broiler and Leghorn type chickens were utilized in this experiment. A stainless steel guide cannula was surgically implanted into the right lateral ventricle of each bird. The i.c.v. injection of CRF significantly decreased food intake in both fed and overnight-fasted broilers and Leghorns. Water intake was decreased by CRF in Leghorns but not broilers. When CRF was injected into Leghorns given access to water, but not food, water intake was not affected. Body temperature was not affected by the i.c.v. injection of CRF. These results suggest that CRF acts within the central nervous system of chickens to decrease food intake while having no affect on water intake or body temperature.

The effect of pyrazine odor on body weight and the weight of various organs in chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus).

Embryonic and posthatch long-term exposure to the odor of 2-methoxy-3-isobutyl-pyrazine (2M3IP) was examined for its potential physiological consequences as reflected in changes in BW and organ weights in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Experiments were run from Day 1 of incubation to the age of 3 wk with a total of 360 fertile chicken eggs. The experimental design consisted of four treatment groups: PP chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during both incubation and posthatch rearing; PC chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during incubation only; CP chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during rearing period only; CC control chicks were not exposed to 2M3IP. Chicks were weighed immediately after hatch and at 3 wk of age, when they were necropsied. Various organs (thyroid, adrenal, testes, comb, liver, spleen, abdominal fat, and the bursa of Fabricius) were removed and weighed. Body weights of both sexes in the PP group were reduced. This reduction was significant in males relative to both CP and CC groups and in females only relative to the CP group. Effects of 2M3IP exposure on the examined organs were as follows: in males, adrenal gland weight significantly increased in the PP group vs all other groups. No weight differences were found between the other inspected organs among the four treatments. In females, comb weight significantly decreased compared with the rest of the groups when 2M3IP exposure occurred during incubation (PC). Further investigation is needed to study the mechanisms that underlie the differential effects of pyrazine odor on male and female chicks.

Testosterone concentrations, testes weight and morphology of mule drakes (Muscovy drake x Khaki Campbell).

1. Mule ducks were produced by naturally mating Muscovy drakes and Khaki Campbell ducks. 2. Semen was collected from 6-month-old mule drakes via an artificial vagina. The fluid was clear without any spermatozoa or spermatids. 3. Testes from 27-week-old mule drakes were smaller in size than those of Khaki Campbell drakes but heavier than Muscovy males of the same age. Histological sections of these testes revealed that spermatogenesis was not complete. 4. Testosterone concentration in the mule drakes was higher than in Muscovy males but similar to Khaki Campbell drakes. 5. Mule drakes have strong sexual drives as a result of high concentrations of testosterone, but, because spermatogenesis is incomplete, their semen had no sperm.

Hypothalamic obese, functionally castrated hens are hypersensitive to estrogenic modulation of lipid metabolism.

Estradiol benzoate (E2) increases plasma lipids in hypothalamic obese, functionally castrated (OFC), obese laying (OL), and control laying hens (CONT). However, E2 reduces fattiness in OFC but not in OL or CONT hens. Antiestrogen, such as tamoxifen (TAM), reduces plasma lipids in OL and CONT, but not in OFC, hens and has no effect on fattiness in any of them. Apolipoprotein VLDL-II (apo-VLDL-II), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and rate of lipolysis may mediate these estrogenic effects. In the present study, effects of E2 and TAM on fattiness, plasma apo-VLDL-II, in vitro lipolysis, and LPL activity in postheparin plasma and abdominal adipose tissue (AAT) were determined in OFC, OL, and CONT hens. Basomedial hypothalamic lesions were performed in 3-month-old White Leghorn hens. At the static phase, 10 months later, OFC OL, and CONT hens were divided into three subgroups and injected IM on alternate days, with either 2 mg E2/kg b.wt., 10 mg TAM/kg, or vehicle corn oil, for 5 weeks. In OL and OFC hens, body and AAT weights were higher than in CONT poullets. Food intake and ovarian weight were similar in OL and CONT, higher than in OFC hens. Plasma LPL activity was higher, whereas plasma apo-VLDL-II and stimulated lipolysis were lower in OFC than in OL and CONT hens. In OFC hens LPL activity per unit of AAT was half than in OL and CONT. Total LPL activity in AAT was similar in OFC and CONT and higher in OL hens. Levels of basal lipolysis were similar in all experimental hens. TAM did not affect any of the measured parameters in OFC hens. In OL and CONT hens, TAM depressed apo-VLDL-II, increased plasma LPL activity, but had no effects on AAT LPL activity, on stimulated lipolysis, or fattiness. E2 increased apo-VLDL-II to similar levels in all groups and reduced LPL activity in plasma and AAT of obese hens. Only in OFC hens did E2 enhance basal and stimulate lipolysis and reduce FI and fattiness. We conclude that in adult laying hens, unlike in cockerels and juvenile hens, estrogen reduces lipid incorporation in fat depots by enhancing apo-VLDL-II production that reduces plasma and AAT LPL activity. This may increase lipoprotein available for incorporation into developing yolks. The lack of estrogen in OFC hens reduces circulating apo-VLDL-II and thus increases LPL activity and amount of fat depots.

Intermingling heavy and light strain chickens may cause social stress.

The present study examines the effects of intermingling day-old broiler chicks with 2-wk-old light strain chicks, on body weight, general activity, feeding behavior, feather condition, and heart size of the broilers. Fifteen groups of chicks (five for each treatment) were raised until 6 wk of age in 1 x 2 m experimental pens. Each group consisted of 10 broiler chicks in Treatment 1 (control pens), 8 broiler, and 2 light strain chicks in Treatment 2 (8:2), and 5 broiler with 5 light strain chicks in Treatment 3 (5:5). The feeding program consisted of a commercial starter ration (21% protein, 3,000 kcal ME/kg) for the first 4 wk followed by a finishing ration (18% protein, 3,150 kcal ME/kg). Feed and water were provided for ad libitum consumption. Body weight did not differ between Treatment 1 (controls) and the "intermingled" broilers. Feather condition was significantly poorer among the 5: 5 groups than in the controls. Heart weight (a possible indicator of chronic stress) in broilers of the 5:5 groups was significantly heavier than in the controls. No differences in the general activity parameters were found between broilers of the various treatments. Pecking at feed among broilers was significantly greater (P < 0.05) in the 8:2 groups than in both control and 5:5 groups. During the first 6 wk after hatching, intermingling broiler chicks with equal numbers of light strain chicks that are 2 wk older may lead to long-term chronic stress for the broilers.

Effects of estradiol and tamoxifen on feeding, fattiness, and some endocrine criteria in hypothalamic obese hens.

In White Leghorn hens, basomedial hypothalamic (BMH) lesions result in two syndromes: a) obese, functionally castrated (OFC) hens, in which both the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) and the mammillary nuclei are damaged and plasma estrogen is very low; and b) obese laying (OL) hens, which have normal levels of plasma estrogen and are less obese than the former, and whose lesion is limited to the VMH. In the present study, the involvement of estrogen in regulation of fattiness and energy metabolism was assayed in OFC, OL, and control (CONT) hens. BMH lesions were made at 13 weeks of age. When the typical syndromes reached the static phase, 20 weeks later, CONT, OFC, and OL hens were divided into three subgroups and were injected for 10 weeks on each alternate day, with either 10 mg tamoxifen (TAM)/kg, 2 mg estradiol benzoate (E2)/kg, or the vehicle, corn oil (0.5 ml). E2 raised plasma total lipids and reduced plasma glucose, insulin, and hematocrit in all treated hens, and increased liver weight in OL and OFC, but not in CONT hens. In OFC hens only, E2 reduced food intake (FI) and fattiness. In OL and CONT hens, E2 increased plasma T3, but raised the resting metabolic rate (RMR) only in CONT ones. In OFC hens, E2 reduce plasma T3 and T4 without affecting RMR. E2 reduced comb weight and egg production in CONT and more severely in OL hens. In the latter, E2 diminished ovarian and oviduct weights, whereas in OFC hens it increased the size of the atrophied oviduct. TAM had no visible effect on OFC hens.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of bilateral basomedial hypothalamic lesions on feeding, fattiness, and reproductive functions in the White Leghorn hen.

During the last three decades, syndromes caused by bilateral destruction of the basomedial hypothalamus (BMH) were extensively studied in cockerels but not in hens. In the present study bilateral electrolytic lesions in the BMH of White Leghorn (WL) hens produced two main sets of symptoms: (a) Obese, functionally castrated hen (OFC); and (b) Obese, laying hen (OL). Following the placement of the hypothalamic lesion, the OFC hens developed transient hyperphagia, that was followed by hypophagia. Weight gain was accelerated in both periods, and marked obesity developed. These hens had high hematocrit values, and atrophied ovary, oviduct, comb, and adenohypophysis. Plasma estrogen, and total lipids and liver weight were reduced in the OFC hens. In these hens, the lesioned area included the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH), the mammillary nuclei, and in some birds also the arcuate nuclei, and the tuberal nucleus. The OL hens manifested transient hyperphagia that subsided into normophagia with the development of obesity. These hens were less obese than the OFC ones and showed normal reproductive traits. The lesioned area in the OL hens was limited to the VMH. Unlike functionally castrated cockerels, where the induced fattiness is accompanied with higher rate of lipogenesis, the OFC hen manifested a unique syndrome: increased fattiness with arrest in estrogen-dependent lipogenesis.

An enrichment object that reduces aggressiveness and mortality in caged laying hens.

The effect on aggressive pecking activity and mortality by an environmental enrichment device was examined. In this study, 2955 White Leghorn chickens from three different lines were used in six separate experiments. Experiments were conducted with chickens during their first or second laying period. Half the cages in each experiment were equipped with colored key rings or an enrichment object manufactured by Gallus Ltd. (Israel). Experimental and control groups of cages were distributed in an alternate serial order for each experiment which lasted for 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10 months. The enrichment devices significantly reduced aggressive head-pecking behavior and significantly decreased the mortality rate from 1.06% per month among the controls to 0.57% among the experimental groups.

Precocious puberty in tamoxifen-treated cockerels: hypothalamic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-I and plasma luteinising hormone, prolactin, growth hormone and testosterone.

1. The administration of the anti-oestrogen, tamoxifen (TAM) to juvenile chicks results in precocious puberty. In the present study the effects of TAM administration (1 mg/kg body weight on alternate days from 12 d of age) on testicular function, hypothalamic chicken gonadotropin-releasing hormone (cGn-RH-I), plasma luteinising hormone (LH), growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and testosterone were studied in juvenile White Leghorn cockerels. 2. The increase in hypothalamic GnRH-I content which occurs during sexual development was advanced in TAM-treated birds, in association with precocious testicular development, an early rise of plasma testosterone content and enhanced comb growth. 3. Plasma LH concentrations behaved similarly and were higher in the TAM-treated than in control birds, during most of the experimental period. Plasma PRL concentration, which is high at hatching, decreased more quickly in TAM-treated than in control birds; plasma GH values were not consistently affected by TAM treatment. 4. Both the growth and the involution of the bursa of Fabricius in the TAM-treated cockerels preceded that in the control chicks. 5. It is concluded that TAM treatment induces precocious puberty in the cockerel by blocking the negative feedback action of aromatised testicular androgens on the hypothalamus.

Tamoxifen advances puberty in the White Leghorn hen.

1. Tamoxifen (TAM) administration advances puberty in cockerels. In the present study the effect of TAM administration on the sexual development of White Leghorn hens was studied. 2. Two-week-old White Leghorn females were injected intramuscularly with TAM on alternate days at doses of 0.1 mg (0.1 TM), 1 mg (1TM), 5 mg (5TM) and 10 mg/kg body weight (10TM) respectively, while the controls were injected with maize oil (vehicle). The experiment was terminated at 23 weeks of age, when all the control hens laid eggs. Sample autopsies were made on chicks of 6, 14 and 23 weeks of age. 3. Body growth was not affected by any of the treatments. 4. Comb growth was accelerated by all doses of TAM, while hematocrit increased in the 1TM, 5TM and 10TM hens. 5. Egg laying advanced in the 0.1TM and 1TM birds, was delayed in 5TM hens and did not occur at all in the 10TM females. 6. TAM caused a precocious increase in plasma oestrogen and androgen, suppressed adiposity in a dose-related manner and, at low doses, advanced the development of the gonadal system. 7. At 23 weeks of age, when the gonadal system of the controls was fully active, TAM caused a dose-related depression in abdominal fat, liver, ovary, and oviduct weights, plasma total lipids and calcium concentrations and a dose-related increase in plasma oestrogen and androgen titres, and comb weight. 8. It seems that TAM increased gonadotropic activity and its androgen stimulating action, but suppressed peripheral signs of the elevated plasma oestrogen titres. Low doses of TAM enhanced gonadotropic activity and egg laying but the antioestrogenic effect depressed development of the gonadal system, suppressing egg production when high doses were administered. It therefore seems that oestrogens are necessary for normal ovarian development in hens.

Sexual differentiation of copulatory behaviour in the male chick requires gonadal steroids.

1. Embryonic injections of 0.3 mg/egg of tamoxifen (TAM), 0.2 mg/egg CI-628 (both antioestrogens), 0.5 mg/egg (ATD (aromatisation inhibitor), or antibodies to oestradiol (E), all suppressed male copulatory activity (MCA) in young male chicks. 2. Embryonic injections with either flutamide (F, androgen antagonist) or high dose of antibodies to testosterone (T) only slightly suppressed MCA. 3. TAM had no effect on embryonic plasma LH levels, 24 and 48 h after injection. 4. It seems that at the embryonic stage oestradiol is required for the normal differentiation of MCA.

The effects of embryonic treatments with gonadal hormones on sexually dimorphic behavior of chicks.

In order to study the role of sex steroids in the differentiation of chick behavior, two groups of experiments were carried out. The first part of the study documented sexual dimorphisms in three behavioral measures in chicks: open-field activity, flocking response, and masculine sexual behavior activated by testosterone (crowing, waltzing, and mating attempts). In the second part, possible organizing influences on these sexually dimorphic behaviors were examined. Male and female embryos were injected with estradiol benzoate (EB) or testosterone propionate (TP). Treatment of males with EB or TP demasculinized all three behaviors. None of the steroid treatments had any effect on the behavior of the females. Plasma testosterone levels of the chicks were not affected by any of these treatments, either before or after testosterone activation. Comb weight was reduced by treatment of male embryos with EB and increased by TP in female embryos, which suggests different mechanism for the development of somatic and behavioral characteristics. The results suggest that exogenous T or E given embryonically can exert similar effects on both sexual behavior and nonreproductive activity of chicks.

Implantation of chicken embryonic tissue and cells into unfertilised eggs.

1. Chick embryo cells and halved embryos were successfully implanted into unfertilised eggs. Yolks containing implants were placed in recipient eggshells, covered by transparent vacuum-formed plastic cones and incubated for 72 h. 2. Dispersed cells were obtained from eggs expelled from the uterus or from eggs that had been laid. Implantation of these cells often resulted in aggregation and epithelial growth, in several cases with axial development. 3. Growth of implanted halved embryos of different ages was often observed, including one 10-somite embryo. Non-axial epithelia, sometimes with a central hole, a central fluid-filled cellular vesicle or a vesicle only, were also observed. 4. In another culture system, whole and halved embryos obtained from laid eggs were cultured on a vitelline membrane stretched across semi-solid egg albumen. During the 72 h incubation, axial development was observed only in whole embryos, while halved embryos grew either into epithelia containing fluid-filled cellular vesicles or into vesicles only. 5. It was found that daily drainage of the accumulating fluid from the embryo compartment encouraged axial development in halved embryos, and almost abolished vesicle formation. Holes were formed in half the embryos cultured on a vitelline membrane. 6. It appeared that physical and biological conditions could inflict serious malformations on the implants.

The response of broilers' adiposity to testosterone after embryonic exposure to androgen and tamoxifen.

1. The effects of early exposure of heavy breed (HB) chicks to an anti-oestrogen (tamoxifen--TAM) and to an androgen which cannot be aromatised (5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone--DHT) on subsequent adiposity and its response to testosterone were studied. 2. Embryonic TAM administration reduced adiposity in females but not in males at 8 weeks of age. Embryonic DHT produced similar responses but to a lesser extent. 3. Testosterone propionate (TP) administration during growth had no effect on adiposity in any of the treated groups but TP reduced adiposity in males which had been exposed to DHT at the embryonic stage.