- Email: [email protected]
Influence of Egg Production and Other Factors on the Iron Content of Chicken Blood
Influence of Egg Production and Other Factors on the Iron Content of Chicken Blood A. R. WINTER Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (Presented at Annual Meeting, August 6-9, 1935)
I
PROCEDURE
White Leghorns, 14 to 16 months old, from the university flock, were used for the tests. They were kept under practical farm conditions and provided with bluegrass range, with the exception of the confined birds, which were kept in laying bat-
teries. All birds received an allmash laying ration consisting of yellow corn 52, middlings 20, bran 10, oats 5, meat scraps 9, dried buttermilk 3, cod liver oil 0.5, and sodium chloride 0.5. Blood samples were taken during May, June, and July. They were obtained from the brachial wing vein and agitated in oxalated tubes to prevent clotting. Total blood iron determinations were made in duplicate by the Kennedy (1927) method. Pyrex test tubes, 25 x 200 mm., were used instead of Kjeldahl flasks for digesting the samples. A calcium chloride tube was inserted in the open end of the digestion tube to condense the acid fumes and reduce their losses. One cc. sample of blood was digested, transferred to a 100 cc. volumetric flask, made up to volume, and a 10 cc. aliquot (0.1 cc. blood) used for the analysis. One cc. of standard iron solution containing 0.25 mg. of iron was treated in the same manner as the blood sample, and a 10 cc. aliquot (0.025 mg. iron) used in the standard tube of the Bausch and Lomb colorimeter. Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood was calculated by dividing the milligrams of iron per 100 cc. of blood-by 3.35, since hemoglobin contains 0.335 percent iron. Blood iron analyses were first made on 110 birds picked at random from a trapnested flock of 500. Then 88 analyses were obtained from the above group and other birds in the flock which were in production,
[2521
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
T IS a well known fact that many pullets become thin, pale, and develop general or specific diseases after they have been in production for a time. Dukes and Schwarte (1932) found no significant correlation between spring egg production and hemoglobin level of the blood. Cook and Harmon (1933), on the other hand, reported that egg production caused a marked drop in hemoglobin level and that it rose again soon after production stopped. If egg production does cause a drop in hemoglobin level of the blood, it would result in abnormal cell activities and predispose the birds to disease. Some feedstuffs and mineral preparations are being advocated by commercial firms as supplements for laying rations to increase their iron content and thus prevent a possible nutritional anemia. The purpose of this paper is to add to and possibly aid in clarifying the existing data on the influence of egg production on iron content of the blood and to study the effect of gray eyes (symptom of neurolymphomatosis), bumblefoot, molt, and confinement on this factor.
MAY,
1936.
VOL.
253
XV, No. 3
and 64 from birds out of production. A few birds in the flock had the characteristic gray eye which is associated with neurolymphomatosis and finally results in blindness, some had bumblefoot and some were in advanced stages of molt. Blood samples were taken from some of the above birds for analysis. Blood iron determinations were also made on 22 of the birds which had been confined in laying batteries for six months. The data are presented in
globin per 100 cc. of blood for four to six months' old Leghorn pullets and 10.2 ± .9 gms. for two-year-old Leghorn hens. They found that the hemoglobin level rose with the approach of winter. Schultze and Elvehjem (1934) have pointed out that the figures reported by Dukes and Schwarte are high for they did not make corrections for all of the turbidity encountered. Bronkhorst and Hall (1935) have recently reported the hemoglobin level of Leghorn breeding hens
TABLE 1.—Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood of leghorn hens
Selected at random In production Out of production Out of production and in molt In production and with gray eyes In production and with bumblefoot Tn confinement
Number of birds
Range
Mean
Range
Mean
110 88 64 12 12 8 22
6.0-11.1 6 . 6 - 9.6 6.0-11.1 7.4-11.1 6 . 6 - 9.5 6 . 6 - 9.0 6.5-10.6
8.1+.06 8.1+.05 8.1+.10 8.1+.27 7.8+.16 7.8+.41 8.8+.16
2-220 4-219
117+ 3 116± 4
Hemoglobin
Table 1. More than one analysis of the blood was made on 35 birds. In such cases the samples were taken at approximately one month intervals. The results are given in Table 2. DISCUSSION The analyses show a wide variation in the iron content of the blood, varying from 20.1 to 37.2 mg. per 100 cc. of blood. The calculated hemoglobin varied from 6.0 to 11.1 gms. per 100 cc. of blood. Burmeister (1934) reported a range of 21 to 40.5 mg. of iron per 100 cc. of blood among 17 hens. Cook and Harmon (1933) found that the average hemoglobin level of 17 Leghorn pullets varied from 7 to 11.5 gms. of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood during an 11-month period of observation. It dropped during the spring and summer months and rose during the fall and winter months. They attributed the drop in hemoglobin to the high egg production during the spring and summer months. Dukes and Schwarte (1931) reported 8.9 ± .7 gms. of hemo-
Eggs laid
38-183 8-219 1-81
113 + 10 119+18 31+ 4
Days rest Range
Mean
6-221 10-34
39 + 3 23 + 2
of various ages as 11.18 ± .06 gms. per 100 cc. of blood. These apparently higher figures may be due to age of birds, method of hemoglobin calculation, time of year samples were taken, or rate of production. No differences were noticed in hemoglobin level of the blood of birds which had a mean production of 116 ± 4 eggs without a rest period and birds which had been out of production 39 ± 3 days. The presence of gray eyes, bumblefoot, or molt had no significant influence on iron content of the blood. The birds in confinement showed a slightly higher hemoglobin content of the blood than similar birds on range. This may have been due to the rather low egg production of this group as compared with the birds on range. Doyle, Matthews and Roberts (1929) and Holmes, Pigott, and Campbell (1933) have found that confinement does not produce marked changes in hemoglobin level of the blood of growing chickens. Cook and Harmon (1933) found a
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
Group
254
POULTRY
marked drop in hemoglobin content of the blood soon after the beginning of egg production, and a decided rise shortly after production stopped. For instance, one hen while in production showed 6.8 gms. of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood and after
SCIENCE
not have a quickly noticeable or effect upon the hemoglobin level blood. SUMMARY White Leghorn hens, 14 to 16 old, contain approximately 27.1 ±
marked of the
months .2 mg.
TABLE 2.—Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood following periods of egg production or rest In production Bird Number
Hemoglobin
Eggs laid
83 91 7 150
8.7 8.1 7.1 8.3
112
—.
195
—
—.
9.1
—
8 140 31 115 4
7.0 8.1 8.5 8.0 8.7
—
—
32 162 154
—
60 113 38
—
154 152 79 16 140 138 130 147 156 148 51
— 87
—
—
174
— •— — —
154
—
131
— —
50 174 177
—
—
—
— — —
8.3 8.0 9.0 8.2 6.9 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.1 7.8 8.1
—
7.4
—
Days out
6.6
—
—
8.5 8.3 7.3
7.8 7.4 8.1
Hemoglobin
77
180 180 100
— —
157 156 172 183 171 71
— — —
Hemoglobin
Days out
In production Hemoglobin
12
—
7.4
— — — —
7.9
—
7.7
— —
8.2 8.2 8.1
—
8.7
— — —
8.7 7.9 9.5
— —
9.7 9.6 8.1 7.8 7.8 7.7
— — —
going broody and out of production the hemoglobin rose to 13.6 gms. Eighteen out of the 35 cases studied in this report (Table 2) showed a decrease in hemoglobin as the period of production was extended or an increase in hemoglobin as the rest period was lengthened. Seventeen cases showed opposite effects. Therefore the data presented in Table 2 indicate that the number of eggs laid or the length of the rest period does
11
— 19 27 18 21
— 24
— 21 20
7.4
—
8.2 6.7 6.3 7.3
16 15 9 22 9
— — 12 10 12
— 12
— — — —
— — — — —
47
— —
— — — — —
— — —
— — —
.—
8.1 8.1
— — —
29 12 6
—
8.4 7.5 7.2 8.2 8.6
— —
7.6 8.0 7.8
—
7.8
— — — —
9.6 7.8 8.8
8
43
— — — 34
— — — — — — — — — — — 6
— 21
— — — — —
6.6
— — — — —
7.1
— — —
8.3
— — —
7.9
— — — — — — — — — — —
9.3
—
7.6
Eggs laid
Hemoglobin
14
8.0
— — — 6
— — — — — — 12
— .— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
— — —
8.2
— — — — — —
6.9
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
of iron (8.1 ± -06 gms. hemoglobin) per 100 cc. of blood during the summer months. Production, confinement, molt, gray eyes (associated with neurolymphomatosis), or bumblefoot do not produce quickly noticeable or marked changes in the iron content of the blood. REFERENCES
Bronkhorst, J. J. and G. O. Hall. 1935. Hatchability studies, I. The physiology and chemistry
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
15 23 69 71 85 90 135 208 305 325 331 354 365 372 376 391 404 417 420 423 429 449 471 479 491 501 508 510 512 520 535 536 543 568 580
Eggs laid
Out of production
MAY,
1936.
VOL.
XV, No. 3
of the blood of high and low hatching lines. Poul. Sci. 14:42-45. Burmeister, B. R. 1934. An investigation of a method for iron determination in blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 105 :189-198. Cook, F. W. and R. S. Dearstyne. 1934. Hematology of the Fowl. N. C. Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. 44, pp. 10-11. Cook, S. F. and I. W. Harmon. 1933. The regulation of hemoglobin level in poultry. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 105:407-417. Doyle, L. P., F. P. Matthews and R. E. Roberts. 1929. Does rearing chicks in confinement affect the red blood cell or hemoglobin content of their blood? Poul. Sci. 9:6-12. Dukes, H. H. and L. H. Schwarte. 1931. The
255 hemoglobin content of the blood of fowls. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 96:89-93. Dukes, H. H., L. H. Schwarte and A. E. Brandt. 1931. The hemoglobin content of the blood of the hen: a statistical study of influences and relations. Sci. 75 :25-26. Holmes, A. D., M. G. Pigott and P. A. Campbell. 1933. The hemoglobin content of chicken blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 103 :657-664. Kennedy, R. P. 1927. The quantitative determination of iron in tissues. Jour. Biol. Chem. 74: 385-391. Schultze, M. O. and C. A. Elvehjem. 1934. An improved method for determination of hemoglobin in chicken blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 105: 253-257. Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
I
PROCEDURE
White Leghorns, 14 to 16 months old, from the university flock, were used for the tests. They were kept under practical farm conditions and provided with bluegrass range, with the exception of the confined birds, which were kept in laying bat-
teries. All birds received an allmash laying ration consisting of yellow corn 52, middlings 20, bran 10, oats 5, meat scraps 9, dried buttermilk 3, cod liver oil 0.5, and sodium chloride 0.5. Blood samples were taken during May, June, and July. They were obtained from the brachial wing vein and agitated in oxalated tubes to prevent clotting. Total blood iron determinations were made in duplicate by the Kennedy (1927) method. Pyrex test tubes, 25 x 200 mm., were used instead of Kjeldahl flasks for digesting the samples. A calcium chloride tube was inserted in the open end of the digestion tube to condense the acid fumes and reduce their losses. One cc. sample of blood was digested, transferred to a 100 cc. volumetric flask, made up to volume, and a 10 cc. aliquot (0.1 cc. blood) used for the analysis. One cc. of standard iron solution containing 0.25 mg. of iron was treated in the same manner as the blood sample, and a 10 cc. aliquot (0.025 mg. iron) used in the standard tube of the Bausch and Lomb colorimeter. Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood was calculated by dividing the milligrams of iron per 100 cc. of blood-by 3.35, since hemoglobin contains 0.335 percent iron. Blood iron analyses were first made on 110 birds picked at random from a trapnested flock of 500. Then 88 analyses were obtained from the above group and other birds in the flock which were in production,
[2521
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
T IS a well known fact that many pullets become thin, pale, and develop general or specific diseases after they have been in production for a time. Dukes and Schwarte (1932) found no significant correlation between spring egg production and hemoglobin level of the blood. Cook and Harmon (1933), on the other hand, reported that egg production caused a marked drop in hemoglobin level and that it rose again soon after production stopped. If egg production does cause a drop in hemoglobin level of the blood, it would result in abnormal cell activities and predispose the birds to disease. Some feedstuffs and mineral preparations are being advocated by commercial firms as supplements for laying rations to increase their iron content and thus prevent a possible nutritional anemia. The purpose of this paper is to add to and possibly aid in clarifying the existing data on the influence of egg production on iron content of the blood and to study the effect of gray eyes (symptom of neurolymphomatosis), bumblefoot, molt, and confinement on this factor.
MAY,
1936.
VOL.
253
XV, No. 3
and 64 from birds out of production. A few birds in the flock had the characteristic gray eye which is associated with neurolymphomatosis and finally results in blindness, some had bumblefoot and some were in advanced stages of molt. Blood samples were taken from some of the above birds for analysis. Blood iron determinations were also made on 22 of the birds which had been confined in laying batteries for six months. The data are presented in
globin per 100 cc. of blood for four to six months' old Leghorn pullets and 10.2 ± .9 gms. for two-year-old Leghorn hens. They found that the hemoglobin level rose with the approach of winter. Schultze and Elvehjem (1934) have pointed out that the figures reported by Dukes and Schwarte are high for they did not make corrections for all of the turbidity encountered. Bronkhorst and Hall (1935) have recently reported the hemoglobin level of Leghorn breeding hens
TABLE 1.—Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood of leghorn hens
Selected at random In production Out of production Out of production and in molt In production and with gray eyes In production and with bumblefoot Tn confinement
Number of birds
Range
Mean
Range
Mean
110 88 64 12 12 8 22
6.0-11.1 6 . 6 - 9.6 6.0-11.1 7.4-11.1 6 . 6 - 9.5 6 . 6 - 9.0 6.5-10.6
8.1+.06 8.1+.05 8.1+.10 8.1+.27 7.8+.16 7.8+.41 8.8+.16
2-220 4-219
117+ 3 116± 4
Hemoglobin
Table 1. More than one analysis of the blood was made on 35 birds. In such cases the samples were taken at approximately one month intervals. The results are given in Table 2. DISCUSSION The analyses show a wide variation in the iron content of the blood, varying from 20.1 to 37.2 mg. per 100 cc. of blood. The calculated hemoglobin varied from 6.0 to 11.1 gms. per 100 cc. of blood. Burmeister (1934) reported a range of 21 to 40.5 mg. of iron per 100 cc. of blood among 17 hens. Cook and Harmon (1933) found that the average hemoglobin level of 17 Leghorn pullets varied from 7 to 11.5 gms. of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood during an 11-month period of observation. It dropped during the spring and summer months and rose during the fall and winter months. They attributed the drop in hemoglobin to the high egg production during the spring and summer months. Dukes and Schwarte (1931) reported 8.9 ± .7 gms. of hemo-
Eggs laid
38-183 8-219 1-81
113 + 10 119+18 31+ 4
Days rest Range
Mean
6-221 10-34
39 + 3 23 + 2
of various ages as 11.18 ± .06 gms. per 100 cc. of blood. These apparently higher figures may be due to age of birds, method of hemoglobin calculation, time of year samples were taken, or rate of production. No differences were noticed in hemoglobin level of the blood of birds which had a mean production of 116 ± 4 eggs without a rest period and birds which had been out of production 39 ± 3 days. The presence of gray eyes, bumblefoot, or molt had no significant influence on iron content of the blood. The birds in confinement showed a slightly higher hemoglobin content of the blood than similar birds on range. This may have been due to the rather low egg production of this group as compared with the birds on range. Doyle, Matthews and Roberts (1929) and Holmes, Pigott, and Campbell (1933) have found that confinement does not produce marked changes in hemoglobin level of the blood of growing chickens. Cook and Harmon (1933) found a
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
Group
254
POULTRY
marked drop in hemoglobin content of the blood soon after the beginning of egg production, and a decided rise shortly after production stopped. For instance, one hen while in production showed 6.8 gms. of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood and after
SCIENCE
not have a quickly noticeable or effect upon the hemoglobin level blood. SUMMARY White Leghorn hens, 14 to 16 old, contain approximately 27.1 ±
marked of the
months .2 mg.
TABLE 2.—Grams of hemoglobin per 100 cc. of blood following periods of egg production or rest In production Bird Number
Hemoglobin
Eggs laid
83 91 7 150
8.7 8.1 7.1 8.3
112
—.
195
—
—.
9.1
—
8 140 31 115 4
7.0 8.1 8.5 8.0 8.7
—
—
32 162 154
—
60 113 38
—
154 152 79 16 140 138 130 147 156 148 51
— 87
—
—
174
— •— — —
154
—
131
— —
50 174 177
—
—
—
— — —
8.3 8.0 9.0 8.2 6.9 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.1 7.8 8.1
—
7.4
—
Days out
6.6
—
—
8.5 8.3 7.3
7.8 7.4 8.1
Hemoglobin
77
180 180 100
— —
157 156 172 183 171 71
— — —
Hemoglobin
Days out
In production Hemoglobin
12
—
7.4
— — — —
7.9
—
7.7
— —
8.2 8.2 8.1
—
8.7
— — —
8.7 7.9 9.5
— —
9.7 9.6 8.1 7.8 7.8 7.7
— — —
going broody and out of production the hemoglobin rose to 13.6 gms. Eighteen out of the 35 cases studied in this report (Table 2) showed a decrease in hemoglobin as the period of production was extended or an increase in hemoglobin as the rest period was lengthened. Seventeen cases showed opposite effects. Therefore the data presented in Table 2 indicate that the number of eggs laid or the length of the rest period does
11
— 19 27 18 21
— 24
— 21 20
7.4
—
8.2 6.7 6.3 7.3
16 15 9 22 9
— — 12 10 12
— 12
— — — —
— — — — —
47
— —
— — — — —
— — —
— — —
.—
8.1 8.1
— — —
29 12 6
—
8.4 7.5 7.2 8.2 8.6
— —
7.6 8.0 7.8
—
7.8
— — — —
9.6 7.8 8.8
8
43
— — — 34
— — — — — — — — — — — 6
— 21
— — — — —
6.6
— — — — —
7.1
— — —
8.3
— — —
7.9
— — — — — — — — — — —
9.3
—
7.6
Eggs laid
Hemoglobin
14
8.0
— — — 6
— — — — — — 12
— .— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
— — —
8.2
— — — — — —
6.9
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
of iron (8.1 ± -06 gms. hemoglobin) per 100 cc. of blood during the summer months. Production, confinement, molt, gray eyes (associated with neurolymphomatosis), or bumblefoot do not produce quickly noticeable or marked changes in the iron content of the blood. REFERENCES
Bronkhorst, J. J. and G. O. Hall. 1935. Hatchability studies, I. The physiology and chemistry
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015
15 23 69 71 85 90 135 208 305 325 331 354 365 372 376 391 404 417 420 423 429 449 471 479 491 501 508 510 512 520 535 536 543 568 580
Eggs laid
Out of production
MAY,
1936.
VOL.
XV, No. 3
of the blood of high and low hatching lines. Poul. Sci. 14:42-45. Burmeister, B. R. 1934. An investigation of a method for iron determination in blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 105 :189-198. Cook, F. W. and R. S. Dearstyne. 1934. Hematology of the Fowl. N. C. Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. 44, pp. 10-11. Cook, S. F. and I. W. Harmon. 1933. The regulation of hemoglobin level in poultry. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 105:407-417. Doyle, L. P., F. P. Matthews and R. E. Roberts. 1929. Does rearing chicks in confinement affect the red blood cell or hemoglobin content of their blood? Poul. Sci. 9:6-12. Dukes, H. H. and L. H. Schwarte. 1931. The
255 hemoglobin content of the blood of fowls. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 96:89-93. Dukes, H. H., L. H. Schwarte and A. E. Brandt. 1931. The hemoglobin content of the blood of the hen: a statistical study of influences and relations. Sci. 75 :25-26. Holmes, A. D., M. G. Pigott and P. A. Campbell. 1933. The hemoglobin content of chicken blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 103 :657-664. Kennedy, R. P. 1927. The quantitative determination of iron in tissues. Jour. Biol. Chem. 74: 385-391. Schultze, M. O. and C. A. Elvehjem. 1934. An improved method for determination of hemoglobin in chicken blood. Jour. Biol. Chem. 105: 253-257. Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 22, 2015