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The Effect of Cecal Coccidiosis on the Blood Cells of the Domestic Fowl
BLOOD VOLUME DURING COCCIDIOSIS REFERENCES Bohren, B. B., 1954. Personal communication. Champion, L. R., 1955. A case of paired oviducts in the chicken. Poultry Sci. 34: 184-186. Duke, B. J., 1954. Personal communication. Gericke, A. M., 1950. Incomplete posterior twinning in a White Leghorn hen. Poultry Sci. 29:351-355. Hutt, F. B., 1949. Genetics of the Fowl. McGrawHill Book Co., Inc., New York, Chap. 5. Jaap, R. G., 1954. Personal communication.
311
Jull, M. A., 1952. Poultry Breeding. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. Chap. 5. Landauer, W., 1951. The hatchability of chicken eggs as influenced by environment and heredity. Storrs Ag. Expt. Sta. Bui. 262. Univ. of Conn., Storrs. Mueller, C. D., 1954. Personal communication. Waters, N. F., 1954. Personal communication. Webster, H. D , 1948. The right oviduct in chickens. J. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 62:221-223.
The Effect of Cecal Coccidiosis on the Blood Cells of the Domestic Fowl
MICHAEL P. N A T T | AND CHESTER A. HERRICK Departments of Zoology and Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Received for publication July 26, 1955)
INTRODUCTION
P
REVIOUS studies on the total erythrocyte count and the hematocrit value of chickens severely infected with cecal coccidiosis have shown that during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease the erythrocyte number per unit volume of blood decreases approximately fifty percent (Natt and Herrick, in press). From these data, one may conclude that the chickens lost an average of fifty percent of their total erythrocytes from the hemorrhage. This assumption may not be justified, however, since one must also take into consideration the changes in the total plasma volume of the animal. As the total erythrocyte count and hematocrit value
* Published with the permission of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. Supported in part by the Research Committee of the Graduate School from funds supplied by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Department of Veterinary Science Publication No. 151. t Present address: Eaton Laboratories, Norwich, N.Y.
are essentially ratios of cells to plasma in a specific quantity of blood, any increase or decrease in the total plasma volume of the animal can be reflected in the erythrocyte count or the hematocrit value even though the total erythrocyte number of the animal remains constant. Accordingly, studies were made of the changes in blood volume of normal chickens and of those infected with cecal coccidiosis. One of the indirect procedures most frequently used to determine the blood volume of animals consists of injecting a known amount of dye into the blood stream of the animal. After a time interval, to ensure the complete distribution of the dye, a sample of blood is withdrawn from the animal. The blood volume of the animal can be calculated from the difference in concentration of the dye injected and that recovered in the blood sample. MATERIALS AND METHOD The experimental animals used in this study were Rhode Island Red and Single
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
2. THE CHANGES IN THE BLOOD VOLUME DURING THE COURSE OF THE INFECTION*
312
M. P. NATT AND C. A. HERRICK
The indirect method was modified to utilize only 1.6 ml. of blood for the entire determination. The procedure, which makes use of Evans blue dye, is as follows: One ml. of blood was removed from the chicken by cardiac puncture, and placed in a ten ml., thick-walled centrifuge tube. The blood was obtained through the use of a one ml. tuberculin syringe that had been previously coated with "Liquamine" heparin (10 mg. per ml.) by filling and flushing the solution out of the syringe and allowing it to air dry. A Van Allen hematocrit tube was immediately filled from this blood sample in the manner previously described (Natt and Herrick, in press). The plasma from the remainder of the blood sample ("pre-injection" plasma) was used for the blank and standard determination. A stock Evans blue dye solution was made
up in concentration of one mg. of dye per one ml. of a one percent saline solution (Aldred, 1940) in such volume to last through the course of the experiment. A two ml. calibrated syringe was used for all dye injections. Two ml. of the stock dye were placed in a one hundred ml. volumetric flask and brought to volume with one percent saline. This dye solution was used to make up the standard solution of the individual determinations. Two ml. of the stock dye were then injected into the wing vein of the chicken. After six minutes, which had been previously determined to be adequate for complete circulation of the dye, 0.6 ml. of blood was again removed via cardiac puncture. The second blood sample was placed in a ten ml., thick-walled centrifuge tube and centrifuged together with the hematocrit tube and the first blood sample, for fifteen minutes at three thousand r.p.m. A KlettSommerson photometric colorimeter was used in these investigations. A standard was made for each individual blood volume determination. All colorimeter tubes were washed in an acid bath, rinsed with distilled water, and then air dried. Two tenths ml. of the "pre-injection" plasma was pipetted into each of two graduated colorimeter tubes. A measured amount of the standard dye was taken from the volumetric flask and placed in one of the colorimeter tubes, the other preparation being used for the blank. The final concentration of the dye in the standard solution had been previously determined to give a reading comparable to the unknown reading. Two tenths ml. of the dyed plasma (unknown sample) was pipetted into a third tube, and all three tubes were filled to the five ml. mark with one percent saline. After the instrument was standardized at zero with the blank, the readings for the standard and the unknown were determined. The plasma vol-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
Comb White Leghorn crosses. The chickens, one day old when obtained from the Department of Poultry Science of the University of Wisconsin, were placed in sterile cages and raised free from infection according to the method described by Herrick, Ott and Holmes (1936). The procedure used in determining the blood volume of the chicken is a modification of the indirect method, originally developed by Keith, Rowntree and Geraghty (1915). Thirty chickens, approximately six weeks of age, were divided randomly into two groups. No distinction was made as to sex. Five chickens in each group were selected randomly as controls and the remaining chickens of the group were infected with 100,000 washed, sporulated oocysts. The oocysts used for the infection were from a pure culture of Eimeria tenella that had been maintained in this laboratory. Blood volume determinations were made prior to the infection, and each day for fifteen days following the infection.
B L O O D VOLUME D U R I N G COCCIDIOSIS
313
ume and blood volumes were calculated in the following manner: Cone, of Stand, dye XUnknown Reading=cone, of unknown dye in mg./ml. of plasma determined Reading of Stand, dye cone, of unknown dye 1 Cone, of unknown dye in mg./ml. of plasma determinedX ml. of plasma determined mg./ml. of plasma Cone of dye injected in mg./ml. = Plasma volume of the animal Cone, of dye in unknown sample in mg./ml 100 = Blood volume of the animal Plasma volume X 100—hematocrit (% corpuscular volume) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The total blood volume of the birds in the respective groups was determined on alternate days of the experiment. I n this manner, a complete picture of the changes in the plasma volume, percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) and the blood volume could be followed during the entire course of the infection. I n a blood volume study on chicks, one to fifty days of age, Pappenheimer, Goettsch and Jungherr (1939) showed t h a t there was a fairly constant relationship between the blood volume and the body weight. T h e y found t h a t the blood volume is approximately nine percent of the body weight for the age group studied. The averages of the weight gains, percent corpuscular volume, plasma volume, and the calculated blood volumes of the respective groups are graphically represented in Figs. 1-4. T h e weight gains for the controls of groups 1 and 2 were quite
Group
1,1*00
ConUui
—
,—
'
1,200
X,100
jr,-"
1,000
900
800
/ // /
^ \
700 0
1
2
3
U
5
6
7
6
9
10
11 12
13
III
Days after infection
FIG. la. The changes in the body weight of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
15
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
P r a t t (1938), in his studies on cecal coccidiosis, reported a marked decrease in the total blood volume on the fifth a n d sixth days of the infection. However, he did not record, separately, the changes in the cellular and fluid components of the blood. This study was initiated to determine the changes in plasma volume through the course of the infection in order to ascertain the nature of the anemia resulting from the blood loss in coccidiosis.
uniform throughout the experiment. The experimental groups showed a definite loss in weight on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. Since the chickens were not weighed directly prior to the onset of the hemorrhage, it is difficult to estimate the actual weight loss incurred on the fifth a n d sixth day. If it can be assumed t h a t under normal conditions, the weight gains of the experimental animals would be comparable to their controls, then the infected chickens of the two groups would have lost approximately fifteen percent of their body weight. The normal percent corpuscular volume of the birds studied (Fig. 2) agreed with the findings of
314
M. P. NATT AND C. A. HERRICK In* 31.0
0
1
2
3
1.
5
6
7
6
9
10
11
12
13
Hi
IS
Days after Infection 0
FIG. l b . The changes in the body weight of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
Newell and Shaffner (1950). The corpuscular volume decreased thirty-eight and thirty percent for the respective groups on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. The nine days required for the hematocrit value to return to normal In %
3!i.O
y
0
1
2
3
It
Control • Infected -
5 6 7 8 9 Days after Infection
10 11
12
13 11. 15
FIG. 2a. The changes in the percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
1
2
3
1»
5
6
7
9
10
11
12 13
111
15
Days after infectloi
FIG. 2b. The changes in the percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
agreed with the data obtained in a previous study (Natt and Herrick, in press). One of the purposes of this study was to see if there was a change in the plasma volume during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease, thus making it possible to determine the extent of the anemia in the chicken as suggested by the drop in the erythrocyte count. These data show that there was no change in the plasma volume (Fig. 3) on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. Thus it appears that the decrease in the blood volume (Fig. 4) on the fifth and sixth days is the result of the erythrocyte loss and not due to any changes in the plasma volume. It is obvious that during the course of the hemorrhage, both plasma and erythrocytes are lost. It appears that the animal can compensate for the loss of fluids more easily than for the loss in erythrocytes. Pratt (1938) states that the additional fluid is derived, in part, from the muscle plasma. The plasma volume and blood volume of the controls of group 2 increased through
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
Control Infected -
BLOOD VOLUME DURING COCCIDIOSIS
315
in n l . 125 .
\ ..--' 115 Group 2
0
1
2
3
a
5
6
7
6
9
10
11
12 13
lit
15
Days after Infection
FIG. 3. The changes in the plasma volume of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
the course of the experiment. There was a slight decrease in the plasma volume and blood volume of the controls of group 1 between the fifth and tenth days of the experiment. The decrease, however, was not significant. The drop in the hematocrit values for the respective experimental groups was statistically analyzed by the / test according to Snedecor (1948) and proved to be highly significant. The decrease in the total blood volume on the fifth and sixth days was statistically analyzed by comparing the differences in the blood volumes of the infected and control birds on the second and third days to their respective blood volumes on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. The amount of blood lost proved to be statistically significant. It becomes apparent, from the results obtained in this study, that the total reduction in the erythrocyte supply is much more severe than is sug-
<&** 0
1
2
3
^^.""""" h
5 6 7 8 9 10 Days after Infection
u
12
13
11, 15
FIG. 4. The changes in the blood volume of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
gested by the hematocrit and erythrocyte determinations. SUMMARY The changes in the body weight, percent corpuscular volume, plasma volume, and blood volume of birds infected with cecal coccidiosis were determined daily through the course of the infection. The data show an appreciable decrease in body weight, percent corpuscular volume and blood volume, but no change in the plasma volume during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease. The decrease in blood volume resulted primarily from the loss in corpuscular volume. REFERENCES Aldred, P.,'l940. A note on the osmotic pressure of
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
60
316
R. J. LlLLIE, J. R. SlZEMOEE AND C. A. DFNTON
the blood of various animals. J. Exp. Biol. 17: 223-226. Herrick, C. A., G. L. Ott and C. E. Holmes, 1936. Age as a factor in the development of resistance of the chicken to the effects of the protozoan parasite. Eimeria tenella. J. Parasitol. 22: 264272. Keith, N. M., L. G. Rountree and J. T. Geraghty, 1915. A method for the determination of plasma and blood volume. Arch. Int. Med. 16: 546-576. Natt, M. P., and C. A. Herrick (in press). The effect of cecal coccidiosis on the blood cells of the domestic fowl. 1. A comparison of the changes in the erythrocyte count resulting from hemorrhage in infected and mechanically bled birds. The use
of the hematocrit value as an index of the severity of the infection. Newell, B. W., and C. S. Shaffner, 1950. Blood volume determinations in chickens. Poultry Sci. 29: 78-81. Pappenheimer, A. M., M. Goettsch and E. Jungheir, 1939. Nutritional encephalomalacia in chicks and certain related disorders of the domestic fowl. Bull. Storrs Agri. Exp. Sta. 229. Pratt, I., 1940. The effects of Eimeria tenella upon the blood sugar of the chicken. Trans. Am. Micros. Soc. 59: 31-37. Snedecor, G. W., 1948. Statistical Methods. The Collegiate Press, Inc., Ames, Iowa.
R O B E R T J. L I L L I E , J. R. SIZEMORE AND C. A. D E N T O N U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Poultry Husbandry Research Branch, BeltsviUe, Md. (Received for publication August 1, 1955)
T
H E vast extension of the broiler industry in recent years has resulted in an annual production of 60,000 tons or more of feathers. A large percentage of these feathers has been used for fertilizing purposes. As feathers contain 82 percent protein they have been considered a possible source of protein for poultry feeds. A director's report b y the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station (1926) showed t h a t hydrolyzed feathers improved egg production in one year b u t not in the second year. The researchers concluded t h a t the expense of hydrolyzing chicken feathers was too great to warrant further nutritional studies of feathers in commercial poultry feeds. Draper (1944) reported favorable results of sodium sulfide-treated feathers in a basal cereal diet with chicks and rats. Feather protein was found by R o u t h (1942) to be deficient in tryptophane, methionine, lysine a n d histidine. Wilder (1953) reported t h a t a combination of 3 percent feather meal, 3 percent blood meal and 14 percent soy-
bean oil meal produced a growth response equivalent to 25 percent soybean oil meal. This combination stimulated a growth response slightly better t h a n 6 percent feather meal. A later report (Wilder el al., 1955) showed t h a t feather meal supplying 2.4 percent protein along with an equivalent quantity of protein from meat a n d bone scrap and the remainder from soybean oil meal, alfalfa meal and corn resulted in excellent chick growth. Feather meal had little or no effect on the growth and feed efficiency of White Rock broilers or on egg production a n d feed efficiency of laying hens, according to Gerry a n d Smyth (1954). Romoser (1955) showed t h a t a t least 2.5 percent feather meal could be added to a broiler ration as a protein supplement provided there is an adequate level of all essential amino acids in the diet. A series of experiments has been conducted to estimate the nutritional value of feather meal in chick diets. This paper reports the results of these experiments.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
Feather Meal in Chick Nutrition
311
Jull, M. A., 1952. Poultry Breeding. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. Chap. 5. Landauer, W., 1951. The hatchability of chicken eggs as influenced by environment and heredity. Storrs Ag. Expt. Sta. Bui. 262. Univ. of Conn., Storrs. Mueller, C. D., 1954. Personal communication. Waters, N. F., 1954. Personal communication. Webster, H. D , 1948. The right oviduct in chickens. J. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 62:221-223.
The Effect of Cecal Coccidiosis on the Blood Cells of the Domestic Fowl
MICHAEL P. N A T T | AND CHESTER A. HERRICK Departments of Zoology and Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Received for publication July 26, 1955)
INTRODUCTION
P
REVIOUS studies on the total erythrocyte count and the hematocrit value of chickens severely infected with cecal coccidiosis have shown that during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease the erythrocyte number per unit volume of blood decreases approximately fifty percent (Natt and Herrick, in press). From these data, one may conclude that the chickens lost an average of fifty percent of their total erythrocytes from the hemorrhage. This assumption may not be justified, however, since one must also take into consideration the changes in the total plasma volume of the animal. As the total erythrocyte count and hematocrit value
* Published with the permission of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. Supported in part by the Research Committee of the Graduate School from funds supplied by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Department of Veterinary Science Publication No. 151. t Present address: Eaton Laboratories, Norwich, N.Y.
are essentially ratios of cells to plasma in a specific quantity of blood, any increase or decrease in the total plasma volume of the animal can be reflected in the erythrocyte count or the hematocrit value even though the total erythrocyte number of the animal remains constant. Accordingly, studies were made of the changes in blood volume of normal chickens and of those infected with cecal coccidiosis. One of the indirect procedures most frequently used to determine the blood volume of animals consists of injecting a known amount of dye into the blood stream of the animal. After a time interval, to ensure the complete distribution of the dye, a sample of blood is withdrawn from the animal. The blood volume of the animal can be calculated from the difference in concentration of the dye injected and that recovered in the blood sample. MATERIALS AND METHOD The experimental animals used in this study were Rhode Island Red and Single
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
2. THE CHANGES IN THE BLOOD VOLUME DURING THE COURSE OF THE INFECTION*
312
M. P. NATT AND C. A. HERRICK
The indirect method was modified to utilize only 1.6 ml. of blood for the entire determination. The procedure, which makes use of Evans blue dye, is as follows: One ml. of blood was removed from the chicken by cardiac puncture, and placed in a ten ml., thick-walled centrifuge tube. The blood was obtained through the use of a one ml. tuberculin syringe that had been previously coated with "Liquamine" heparin (10 mg. per ml.) by filling and flushing the solution out of the syringe and allowing it to air dry. A Van Allen hematocrit tube was immediately filled from this blood sample in the manner previously described (Natt and Herrick, in press). The plasma from the remainder of the blood sample ("pre-injection" plasma) was used for the blank and standard determination. A stock Evans blue dye solution was made
up in concentration of one mg. of dye per one ml. of a one percent saline solution (Aldred, 1940) in such volume to last through the course of the experiment. A two ml. calibrated syringe was used for all dye injections. Two ml. of the stock dye were placed in a one hundred ml. volumetric flask and brought to volume with one percent saline. This dye solution was used to make up the standard solution of the individual determinations. Two ml. of the stock dye were then injected into the wing vein of the chicken. After six minutes, which had been previously determined to be adequate for complete circulation of the dye, 0.6 ml. of blood was again removed via cardiac puncture. The second blood sample was placed in a ten ml., thick-walled centrifuge tube and centrifuged together with the hematocrit tube and the first blood sample, for fifteen minutes at three thousand r.p.m. A KlettSommerson photometric colorimeter was used in these investigations. A standard was made for each individual blood volume determination. All colorimeter tubes were washed in an acid bath, rinsed with distilled water, and then air dried. Two tenths ml. of the "pre-injection" plasma was pipetted into each of two graduated colorimeter tubes. A measured amount of the standard dye was taken from the volumetric flask and placed in one of the colorimeter tubes, the other preparation being used for the blank. The final concentration of the dye in the standard solution had been previously determined to give a reading comparable to the unknown reading. Two tenths ml. of the dyed plasma (unknown sample) was pipetted into a third tube, and all three tubes were filled to the five ml. mark with one percent saline. After the instrument was standardized at zero with the blank, the readings for the standard and the unknown were determined. The plasma vol-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
Comb White Leghorn crosses. The chickens, one day old when obtained from the Department of Poultry Science of the University of Wisconsin, were placed in sterile cages and raised free from infection according to the method described by Herrick, Ott and Holmes (1936). The procedure used in determining the blood volume of the chicken is a modification of the indirect method, originally developed by Keith, Rowntree and Geraghty (1915). Thirty chickens, approximately six weeks of age, were divided randomly into two groups. No distinction was made as to sex. Five chickens in each group were selected randomly as controls and the remaining chickens of the group were infected with 100,000 washed, sporulated oocysts. The oocysts used for the infection were from a pure culture of Eimeria tenella that had been maintained in this laboratory. Blood volume determinations were made prior to the infection, and each day for fifteen days following the infection.
B L O O D VOLUME D U R I N G COCCIDIOSIS
313
ume and blood volumes were calculated in the following manner: Cone, of Stand, dye XUnknown Reading=cone, of unknown dye in mg./ml. of plasma determined Reading of Stand, dye cone, of unknown dye 1 Cone, of unknown dye in mg./ml. of plasma determinedX ml. of plasma determined mg./ml. of plasma Cone of dye injected in mg./ml. = Plasma volume of the animal Cone, of dye in unknown sample in mg./ml 100 = Blood volume of the animal Plasma volume X 100—hematocrit (% corpuscular volume) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The total blood volume of the birds in the respective groups was determined on alternate days of the experiment. I n this manner, a complete picture of the changes in the plasma volume, percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) and the blood volume could be followed during the entire course of the infection. I n a blood volume study on chicks, one to fifty days of age, Pappenheimer, Goettsch and Jungherr (1939) showed t h a t there was a fairly constant relationship between the blood volume and the body weight. T h e y found t h a t the blood volume is approximately nine percent of the body weight for the age group studied. The averages of the weight gains, percent corpuscular volume, plasma volume, and the calculated blood volumes of the respective groups are graphically represented in Figs. 1-4. T h e weight gains for the controls of groups 1 and 2 were quite
Group
1,1*00
ConUui
—
,—
'
1,200
X,100
jr,-"
1,000
900
800
/ // /
^ \
700 0
1
2
3
U
5
6
7
6
9
10
11 12
13
III
Days after infection
FIG. la. The changes in the body weight of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
15
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
P r a t t (1938), in his studies on cecal coccidiosis, reported a marked decrease in the total blood volume on the fifth a n d sixth days of the infection. However, he did not record, separately, the changes in the cellular and fluid components of the blood. This study was initiated to determine the changes in plasma volume through the course of the infection in order to ascertain the nature of the anemia resulting from the blood loss in coccidiosis.
uniform throughout the experiment. The experimental groups showed a definite loss in weight on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. Since the chickens were not weighed directly prior to the onset of the hemorrhage, it is difficult to estimate the actual weight loss incurred on the fifth a n d sixth day. If it can be assumed t h a t under normal conditions, the weight gains of the experimental animals would be comparable to their controls, then the infected chickens of the two groups would have lost approximately fifteen percent of their body weight. The normal percent corpuscular volume of the birds studied (Fig. 2) agreed with the findings of
314
M. P. NATT AND C. A. HERRICK In* 31.0
0
1
2
3
1.
5
6
7
6
9
10
11
12
13
Hi
IS
Days after Infection 0
FIG. l b . The changes in the body weight of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
Newell and Shaffner (1950). The corpuscular volume decreased thirty-eight and thirty percent for the respective groups on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. The nine days required for the hematocrit value to return to normal In %
3!i.O
y
0
1
2
3
It
Control • Infected -
5 6 7 8 9 Days after Infection
10 11
12
13 11. 15
FIG. 2a. The changes in the percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
1
2
3
1»
5
6
7
9
10
11
12 13
111
15
Days after infectloi
FIG. 2b. The changes in the percent corpuscular volume (hematocrit value) of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
agreed with the data obtained in a previous study (Natt and Herrick, in press). One of the purposes of this study was to see if there was a change in the plasma volume during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease, thus making it possible to determine the extent of the anemia in the chicken as suggested by the drop in the erythrocyte count. These data show that there was no change in the plasma volume (Fig. 3) on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. Thus it appears that the decrease in the blood volume (Fig. 4) on the fifth and sixth days is the result of the erythrocyte loss and not due to any changes in the plasma volume. It is obvious that during the course of the hemorrhage, both plasma and erythrocytes are lost. It appears that the animal can compensate for the loss of fluids more easily than for the loss in erythrocytes. Pratt (1938) states that the additional fluid is derived, in part, from the muscle plasma. The plasma volume and blood volume of the controls of group 2 increased through
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
Control Infected -
BLOOD VOLUME DURING COCCIDIOSIS
315
in n l . 125 .
\ ..--' 115 Group 2
0
1
2
3
a
5
6
7
6
9
10
11
12 13
lit
15
Days after Infection
FIG. 3. The changes in the plasma volume of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
the course of the experiment. There was a slight decrease in the plasma volume and blood volume of the controls of group 1 between the fifth and tenth days of the experiment. The decrease, however, was not significant. The drop in the hematocrit values for the respective experimental groups was statistically analyzed by the / test according to Snedecor (1948) and proved to be highly significant. The decrease in the total blood volume on the fifth and sixth days was statistically analyzed by comparing the differences in the blood volumes of the infected and control birds on the second and third days to their respective blood volumes on the fifth and sixth days of the infection. The amount of blood lost proved to be statistically significant. It becomes apparent, from the results obtained in this study, that the total reduction in the erythrocyte supply is much more severe than is sug-
<&** 0
1
2
3
^^.""""" h
5 6 7 8 9 10 Days after Infection
u
12
13
11, 15
FIG. 4. The changes in the blood volume of birds severely infected with cecal coccidiosis.
gested by the hematocrit and erythrocyte determinations. SUMMARY The changes in the body weight, percent corpuscular volume, plasma volume, and blood volume of birds infected with cecal coccidiosis were determined daily through the course of the infection. The data show an appreciable decrease in body weight, percent corpuscular volume and blood volume, but no change in the plasma volume during the hemorrhagic phase of the disease. The decrease in blood volume resulted primarily from the loss in corpuscular volume. REFERENCES Aldred, P.,'l940. A note on the osmotic pressure of
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 18, 2015
60
316
R. J. LlLLIE, J. R. SlZEMOEE AND C. A. DFNTON
the blood of various animals. J. Exp. Biol. 17: 223-226. Herrick, C. A., G. L. Ott and C. E. Holmes, 1936. Age as a factor in the development of resistance of the chicken to the effects of the protozoan parasite. Eimeria tenella. J. Parasitol. 22: 264272. Keith, N. M., L. G. Rountree and J. T. Geraghty, 1915. A method for the determination of plasma and blood volume. Arch. Int. Med. 16: 546-576. Natt, M. P., and C. A. Herrick (in press). The effect of cecal coccidiosis on the blood cells of the domestic fowl. 1. A comparison of the changes in the erythrocyte count resulting from hemorrhage in infected and mechanically bled birds. The use
of the hematocrit value as an index of the severity of the infection. Newell, B. W., and C. S. Shaffner, 1950. Blood volume determinations in chickens. Poultry Sci. 29: 78-81. Pappenheimer, A. M., M. Goettsch and E. Jungheir, 1939. Nutritional encephalomalacia in chicks and certain related disorders of the domestic fowl. Bull. Storrs Agri. Exp. Sta. 229. Pratt, I., 1940. The effects of Eimeria tenella upon the blood sugar of the chicken. Trans. Am. Micros. Soc. 59: 31-37. Snedecor, G. W., 1948. Statistical Methods. The Collegiate Press, Inc., Ames, Iowa.
R O B E R T J. L I L L I E , J. R. SIZEMORE AND C. A. D E N T O N U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Poultry Husbandry Research Branch, BeltsviUe, Md. (Received for publication August 1, 1955)
T
H E vast extension of the broiler industry in recent years has resulted in an annual production of 60,000 tons or more of feathers. A large percentage of these feathers has been used for fertilizing purposes. As feathers contain 82 percent protein they have been considered a possible source of protein for poultry feeds. A director's report b y the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station (1926) showed t h a t hydrolyzed feathers improved egg production in one year b u t not in the second year. The researchers concluded t h a t the expense of hydrolyzing chicken feathers was too great to warrant further nutritional studies of feathers in commercial poultry feeds. Draper (1944) reported favorable results of sodium sulfide-treated feathers in a basal cereal diet with chicks and rats. Feather protein was found by R o u t h (1942) to be deficient in tryptophane, methionine, lysine a n d histidine. Wilder (1953) reported t h a t a combination of 3 percent feather meal, 3 percent blood meal and 14 percent soy-
bean oil meal produced a growth response equivalent to 25 percent soybean oil meal. This combination stimulated a growth response slightly better t h a n 6 percent feather meal. A later report (Wilder el al., 1955) showed t h a t feather meal supplying 2.4 percent protein along with an equivalent quantity of protein from meat a n d bone scrap and the remainder from soybean oil meal, alfalfa meal and corn resulted in excellent chick growth. Feather meal had little or no effect on the growth and feed efficiency of White Rock broilers or on egg production a n d feed efficiency of laying hens, according to Gerry a n d Smyth (1954). Romoser (1955) showed t h a t a t least 2.5 percent feather meal could be added to a broiler ration as a protein supplement provided there is an adequate level of all essential amino acids in the diet. A series of experiments has been conducted to estimate the nutritional value of feather meal in chick diets. This paper reports the results of these experiments.
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Feather Meal in Chick Nutrition