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The Reproductive Performance of Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys Maintained on Slatted Floors
242
P. STAHL AND C. W. TURNER
strains of New Hampshire chickens selected for high and low response to thiouracil. Poultry Sci. 37:399-404.
Turner, C. W., 1948. Effect of age and season on the thyroxine secretion rate of White Leghorn hens. Poultry Sci. 27:146-154.
The Reproductive Performance of Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys Maintained on Slatted Floors D. M. COOPER, J. BIELY AND B. MARCH Poultry Nutrition Laboratory, The University of British Columbia AND
(Received for publication May 2, 1960)
T
HE hatchability of turkey eggs, as a general rule, declines after the 9th to the 12th week of the breeding season (Dickens etal., 1941; Atkinson etal., 1955; Jensen et al., 1956). This is particularly true of the hatchability of eggs from broad-breasted stock, and it has been suggested that the hens may become depleted of some nutrient or nutrients. In recent years the importance of vitamin E, niacin, pantothenic acid and folacin has been established in the maintenance of hatchability (Jensen, 1953; Scott and Nelson, 1955; Atkinson et al., 1955; Kratzer et al., 1955, 1956; Ferguson et al., 1956). Declining hatchability of fertile eggs is usually accompanied by a decline in fertility. Atkinson et al. (1955) reported that supplementation of diets with dehydrated alfalfa meal and condensed fish solubles resulted in maintaining fertility at a high level throughout a 17-week breeding period. The object of the present experiment was to determine whether supplementing a supposedly adequate breeder ration with condensed herring solubles as a source of unidentified factors and with additional amounts of known vitamins would have any effect upon the reproduc-
tive performance of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys during a 20-week breeding season. EXPERIMENTAL
One-hundred and sixty Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens which had been reared on wire and in pens with slatted floors at The University of British Columbia were distributed at random among 16 groups of 10 birds each. Forty Broad Breasted Bronze males of the same strain and reared under similar conditions were randomized among 4 groups of 10 birds each. To indicate the size and body conformation of the strain used the average body weights and breast widths of the birds are shown in Table 1. All the birds had been fed practical rations during the growing period. The composition of the breeding rations is shown in Table 2. The level of vitamins in the basal ration met the requirements for turkey breeding stock (Kratzer, 1959). Each treatment was replicated 4 times, treatments being randomized to pens using the permutations of random numbers (Cochrane and Cox, 1957). In December, 1958 each group of 10 hens was placed in a 12'X12' pen with a slatted floor. Each pen was equipped with a 6' feed hopper, a water trough and 4
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R. A. MACLEOD AND H. L. A. TARR Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Technological Station, Vancouver, Canada
243
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
TABLE 1.—Mean body weight and conformation of turkeys at end of twenty week breeding season Diet
Sex
Body weight 16.1 lbs. 29.7
F M
16.3 31.0
F M
15.6 29.5
F M
16.5 32.7
Egg production and mortality in hens Breast width
Keel length
4.6 ins. 5.7
6.6 ins. 8.7
No. of hens dying
59.6 50.6 55.1 51.8
Ration 6.5 8.8
TABLE 2.-—Composition of rations Ingredient
Egg production egg/hen housed
Males replaced in breeding pens
nest boxes. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum. The males were lighted (on January 19, 1959) 3 weeks before the females, with an increasing amount of light from 10 hours per day during the first week to provide a minimum of 13 hours of light per day during the third and subsequent weeks. Individual pen matings were made with males which had been fed the same rations as the females with
Ration 1.—Basal ration. Wheat Oats Barley Dehydrated cereal grass, 20% protein Soybean oil meal, 44% protein Meat meal, 50% protein Limestone Bone meal Iodized salt Manganese sulphate Feeding oil (2,2501.U. vitamin A Oug.) . Riboflavin Niacin Calcium pantothenate a-tocopheryl acetate Vitamin B12
Ration
Per 100 lb. 59.0 10.0 10.0 2.0 10.0 2.0 3.5 2.5 0.5 0.02 0.5 gm. 0.18 gm. 1.5 gm. 0.8 gm. 0.25 gm. 0.0001 gm.
Ration 2.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles. Ration 3.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles plus the following vitamins per pound: Vitamin A 8,000 I.U. Vitamin D 1,200 I.C.U. Tocopheryl acetate 38.0 mg. Riboflavin 3.6 mg. Calcium pantothenate 16.0 mg. Niacin 30.0 mg. Folacin 0.8 mg. Choline chloride 1.8 gm. Vitamin Bu 2.0 mg. Ration 4.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles plus 0.8 mg. folacin per pound.
Replaced Reason for replacement May 19 April 2 July 6 July 6
Thin, poor condition Died Thin, poor condition Thin, poor condition
which they were to mate. Although 10 males were maintained on each experimental ration the original males put into the breeding pens were used except for the replacements indicated in Table 3. The males were rotated weekly within treatments. Egg production and mortality in the hens is given in Table 3. The eggs were gathered 4 times daily, marked with the pen number and date, and were stored at 55-60°F. The first setting of eggs was made on March 18, 1959. Settings were made once weekly. All eggs were individually candled at 7, 14, and 24 days of incubation. All clear eggs and eggs containing dead embryos were removed and broken open to determine the approximate time of embryonic death. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results on fertility, embryonic mortality and hatchability by 4-week periods and for the entire experiment are shown in Table 4. It will be seen that fertility was high throughout the whole of the experimental period (average 89.9%). There was a greater drop in fertility in the basal group (1) and in the group (2) fed the supple-
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F M
TABLE 3.—Egg production, mortality and replacement
244
COOPER, BIELY, MARCH, MACLEOD AND TARR
TABLE 4.—Summary of incubation results
Week
1-4
Ration » > . - « ,
10.4 11.5 12.1 14.6
82.8 77.4 75.9 76.4
74.1 72.1 70.2 66.7
2,472
9.4
5.5
4.2
12.1
78.2
70.8
675 531 534 473
6.4 7.3 13.1 10.4
7.1 7.3 13.2 7.3
1.4 1.4 1.1 2.4
13.9 13.4 9.3 13.9
77.5 77.8 76.3 76.4
72.6 72.1 66.3 68.5
2,213
9.1
8.6
1.5
12.7
77.1
70.1
467 469 482 433
5.8 7.9 6.4 10.2
5.2 13.2 7.8 8.0
5.7 3.9 3.6 6.9
11.6 13.4 15.7 11.0
77.5 69.2 72.7 73.5
73.0 63.8 68.0 66.1
1,851
7.5
8.5
5.0
13.0
73.5
67.7
311 212 252 312
12.9 6.1 6.7 17.3
9.6 9.0 11.9 11.2
5.5 7.0 5.5 5.8
16.2 24.1 19.5 19.4
68.6 59.3 63.1 63.6
59.8 55.7 58.9 52.6
1,087
11.4
10.5
5.9
19.5
64.0
56.8
1 2 3 4
170 96 154 115
30.0 8.3 18.8 33.9
7.6 20.4 13.6 10.5
8.4 10.2 4.8 6.6
20.2 27.3 24.0 15.8
63.9 42.0 57.6 67.1
44.7 38.5 46.8 44.3
Total
535
23.7
12.8
7.4
22.1
57.8
44.1
1 2 3 4
2,268 1,888 2,063 1,939
10.1 7.3 9.5 13.6
6.0 9.3 10.1 7.2
3.8 4.2 3.4 5.0
13.1 14.7 14.0 14.4
77.0 71.7 72.4 73.3
69.3 66.5 65.6 63.4
Total
8,158
10.1
8.1
4.1
14.0
73.7
66.2
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
0-20
ment of condensed herring solubles plus folic acid than in the other two groups after the 16th week. Since only 4 males are represented in each dietary treatment, however, the differences in fertility can hardly be ascribed to the diet fed. Egg production was similar for hens on all diets and the rate of lay declined at the same rate in each treatment. Hatchability of fertile eggs during the first 12 weeks of the experiment for groups
1 to 4 respectively was 79.4, 75.1, 75.1, and 75.6%. During the last 8 weeks of the experiment hatchability of fertile eggs from the respective groups was 67.2, 54.0, 61.2 and 64.4%. Embryonic mortality during the 1st, 2nd-3rd and 4th week of incubation in each treatment throughout the experiment is shown graphically in Figure 1. As would be expected, two peaks of embryonic mortality occurred, viz. during
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3.3 4.8 4.0 4.9
Total 17-20
Dead-inshell
3.5 6.3 7.9 4.2
Total 13-16
8-24 days
Percent hatchability (all eggs)
10.5 6.9 7.5 12.7
Total 9-12
0-7 days
Percent hatchability (fertile eggs)
645 580 641 606
1 2 3 4 Total
5-8
Percent
Embryonic mortality percent of fertile eggs
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
245
DEAD-IN-SHELL
10 0 O
10
DIED 0-7 D
o ca X. LU
S-8 7-/2 DURAT ION OF BREEDING
/J-/6 /7-20 SEASON -WEEKS
FIG. 1. Turkey embryonic mortality over a 20-week breeding season with the following vitamin supple ments to the basal ration: 1. basal ration; 2. 3 % condensed herring solubles; 3. 3 % condensed herring sol ubles plus additional pure vitamins; 4. 3 % condensed herring solubles plus folacin. (The heavy line is the average mortality for all treatments.)
the first 7 days and during the last 4 days of incubation. The decrease in hatchability which occurred as the season advanced was principally due to an increase in embryonic mortality during these 2 periods. It is interesting to note, however, that there was a general increase in mortality throughout the season at all stages of embryonic development. The reason for the failure of condensed fish solubles to improve hatchability over a prolonged breeding season in the present
experiment as compared with the favorable response obtained by Feldman el al. (1957) no doubt lies in the composition of the basal diets employed in the respective experiments. The diet used in the present experiment contained wheat, oats, barley soybean oil meal, meat meal and dehydrated cereal grass. The diet used by Feldman el al. was made up of corn, milo and soybean oil meal in addition to minerals and pure vitamins. With our basal diet the hatchability of fertile eggs during
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Boston University on June 29, 2015
DIED 8-24 DAYS
246
COOPER, BIELY, MARCH, MACLEOD AND TARR
SUMMARY
Hatchability of turkey eggs over a 20week period was studied to determine if the decline in hatchability were due to depletion of vitamins in hens after production. A total of 8,158 eggs was set from hens fed 4 different diets. The hens had been reared on wire and were kept on slatted floors during the growing and breeding season. Males were rotated among the 4 pens of hens fed each diet. The basal diet supplied the vitamin levels recommended by Kratzer (1959). With this diet, no improvement in egg production, fertility or hatchability was observed in response to supplements of 3 % condensed herring solubles (ration 2), 3 % condensed herring solubles plus additional pure vitamins (ration 3) and 3 % condensed herring solubles plus folacin. Over the 20-week period fertility was 89.9% and hatchability was 73.7% of fertile eggs. Hatchability of fertile eggs was 76.4% during the first 12 weeks of the season and 62.2% in the period from 12-20 weeks. REFERENCES Atkinson, R. L., T. M. Ferguson, J. H. Quisenberry and J. R. Couch, 1955. Dehydrated alfalfa meal, condensed fish solubles, distillers dried solubles and dried whey as supplements to an all-vegetable protein turkey laying diet. Poultry Sci. 34: 730-735. Atkinson, R. L., T. M. Ferguson, J. H. Quisenberry and J. R. Couch, 1955. Vitamin E and reproduction in turkeys. J. Nutrition 55: 387-397. Cochrane, W. G., and G. Cox, 1957. Experimental Design. 2nd ed. Wiley, New York. Dickens, F. L., R. T. Parkhurst and C. R. Fellers, 1941. Corn distillers dried grains with solubles in poultry rations. Poultry Sci. 20: 536-542. Feldman, G. L., R. L. Atkinson, B. G. Creech, T. M. Ferguson, B. L. Reid and J. R. Couch, 1957. The effect of dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried brewers yeast and condensed fish solubles on the reproductive performance of turkeys. Poultry Sci. 36: 792-797. Ferguson, T. M., H. P. Vaught, B. L. Reid and
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the 13th to the 20th week of the experiment was 67.2%. Since supplementing this diet with condensed herring solubles and additional pure vitamins was without effect on egg production or hatchability it is apparent that the decline in egg production and hatchability did not occur because the hens became depleted of vitamins as the season progressed. The data do not invalidate the conclusion from the results of a previous experiment that condensed herring solubles is an effective vitamin supplement (March et al., 1959) since in the present experiment the basal diet used was already adequate for breeding stock without additional vitamin supplementation. Of interest are the following percentages of eggs which were classed as deadin-shell but which did pip: basal ration, 40.0%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles, 36.8%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles plus vitamin, 38.5%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles plus folic acid, 41.9%. The similarity in these figures suggests that the rations were adequate and that perhaps incubation conditions were not optimum. It is concluded from the results obtained that the vitamin levels recommended by Kratzer (1959) are sufficient to maintain fertility and hatchability in Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys over a prolonged breeding season. Condensed herring solubles, although a good source of the vitamin B-complex, evidently did not supply any unidentified hatchability factors not already present in the components of the basal diet. The decline in general reproductive capacity that had taken place by the end of 20 weeks could not be ascribed to nutritional deficiencies. Physiological factors inherent in the breed and strain of birds used in the test appear to have been responsible.
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
J. R. Couch, 1956. The effect of vitamin E, dehydrated alfalfa meal and condensed fish solubles upon hatchability of eggs from Broad Breasted Bronze hens maintained on litter. Poultry Sci. 35: 872-875. Jensen, L. S., 1953. Vitamin E, niacin and grass juice in turkey hen nutrition. Proc. 1953 Cornell Nutrition Conf. Feed Mfrs., pp. 62-65. Jensen, L. S., and M. L. Scott, G. F. Heuser, L. C. Norris and T. S. Nelson, 1956. Studies on the nutrition of breeding turkeys. 1. Evidence indicating a need to supplement practical turkey rations with vitamin E. Poultry Sci. 35: 810-816. March, B. E., J. Biely, H. L. A. Tarr and R. A.
247
MacLeod, 1959. The use of condensed herring solubles in turkey poult rations. Prog. Rep. Pac. Coast Sta. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 113: 3-5. Kratzer, F. H., P. N. Davis, B. J. Marshall and D. E. Williams, 1955. The pantothenic acid requirement of turkey hens. Poultry Sci. 34:68-72. Kratzer, F. H., P. N. Davis and U. K. Abbott, 1956. The folic acid requirements of turkey breeder hens. Poultry Sci. 35: 711-716. Kratzer, F. H., 1959. Vitamin requirements of turkeys. Turkey World, January, 1959, p. 32. Scott, M. L., and T. A. Nelson, 1955. Quantitative studies on vitamin E in turkey hatchability. Poultry Sci. 34: 1233-1234.
W. J. MELLEN
Poultry Science Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Received for publication May 4, 1960)
T
HE recent use of radioactive iodine (I131) in thyroid secretion rate (TSR) studies has constituted a significant advance in the field of thyroid physiology. Potential applications in poultry research are numerous, and some investigators have already started to exploit these (Premachandra et al., 1958; Mueller and Amezcua, 1959; Mellen and Wentworth, 1960). Pipes et al. (1958) have called attention to the complicating effect of "recycled" I131 on apparent release rate of thyroidal I131, pointing out that some of the inorganic I131 available from metabolized thyroid hormone again reaches the thyroids and can be re-incorporated into thyroglobulin. In chickens, this re-utilization of I131 occurs to such an extent that TSR estimates (based on calculation of the exogenous thyroxine dose which
* Contribution No. 1241 from the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station.
blocks further release of thyroidal I131) are difficult or impossible unless an antithyroid drug such as thiouracil is administered. As Pipes et al. (1958) state: "It is not necessary to completely block the uptake of recycled I131 with thiouracil, but only to inhibit uptake to the point where increased accuracy results due to a more rapid apparent rate of release of thyroidal I131." All authors previously cited fed thiouracil as 0.1% of the ration. The experiment reported below was conceived because of the following considerations: (1) Although it has been claimed by Turner et al. (1959) that "estimation of thyroxine secretion rate is not affected by goitrogens," Reineke and Singh (1955) reported that estimates in rats given thiouracil were about 10% higher than in those not receiving the drug. (2) Results obtained in this laboratory show that ad libitum feeding of thiouracil as 0.1% of the ration does not completely block thyroid hormone syn-
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EfPects of Thiouracil Level and Pen Position on Thyroxine Secretion Rate Determined by I131 Assay*
P. STAHL AND C. W. TURNER
strains of New Hampshire chickens selected for high and low response to thiouracil. Poultry Sci. 37:399-404.
Turner, C. W., 1948. Effect of age and season on the thyroxine secretion rate of White Leghorn hens. Poultry Sci. 27:146-154.
The Reproductive Performance of Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys Maintained on Slatted Floors D. M. COOPER, J. BIELY AND B. MARCH Poultry Nutrition Laboratory, The University of British Columbia AND
(Received for publication May 2, 1960)
T
HE hatchability of turkey eggs, as a general rule, declines after the 9th to the 12th week of the breeding season (Dickens etal., 1941; Atkinson etal., 1955; Jensen et al., 1956). This is particularly true of the hatchability of eggs from broad-breasted stock, and it has been suggested that the hens may become depleted of some nutrient or nutrients. In recent years the importance of vitamin E, niacin, pantothenic acid and folacin has been established in the maintenance of hatchability (Jensen, 1953; Scott and Nelson, 1955; Atkinson et al., 1955; Kratzer et al., 1955, 1956; Ferguson et al., 1956). Declining hatchability of fertile eggs is usually accompanied by a decline in fertility. Atkinson et al. (1955) reported that supplementation of diets with dehydrated alfalfa meal and condensed fish solubles resulted in maintaining fertility at a high level throughout a 17-week breeding period. The object of the present experiment was to determine whether supplementing a supposedly adequate breeder ration with condensed herring solubles as a source of unidentified factors and with additional amounts of known vitamins would have any effect upon the reproduc-
tive performance of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys during a 20-week breeding season. EXPERIMENTAL
One-hundred and sixty Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens which had been reared on wire and in pens with slatted floors at The University of British Columbia were distributed at random among 16 groups of 10 birds each. Forty Broad Breasted Bronze males of the same strain and reared under similar conditions were randomized among 4 groups of 10 birds each. To indicate the size and body conformation of the strain used the average body weights and breast widths of the birds are shown in Table 1. All the birds had been fed practical rations during the growing period. The composition of the breeding rations is shown in Table 2. The level of vitamins in the basal ration met the requirements for turkey breeding stock (Kratzer, 1959). Each treatment was replicated 4 times, treatments being randomized to pens using the permutations of random numbers (Cochrane and Cox, 1957). In December, 1958 each group of 10 hens was placed in a 12'X12' pen with a slatted floor. Each pen was equipped with a 6' feed hopper, a water trough and 4
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Boston University on June 29, 2015
R. A. MACLEOD AND H. L. A. TARR Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Technological Station, Vancouver, Canada
243
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
TABLE 1.—Mean body weight and conformation of turkeys at end of twenty week breeding season Diet
Sex
Body weight 16.1 lbs. 29.7
F M
16.3 31.0
F M
15.6 29.5
F M
16.5 32.7
Egg production and mortality in hens Breast width
Keel length
4.6 ins. 5.7
6.6 ins. 8.7
No. of hens dying
59.6 50.6 55.1 51.8
Ration 6.5 8.8
TABLE 2.-—Composition of rations Ingredient
Egg production egg/hen housed
Males replaced in breeding pens
nest boxes. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum. The males were lighted (on January 19, 1959) 3 weeks before the females, with an increasing amount of light from 10 hours per day during the first week to provide a minimum of 13 hours of light per day during the third and subsequent weeks. Individual pen matings were made with males which had been fed the same rations as the females with
Ration 1.—Basal ration. Wheat Oats Barley Dehydrated cereal grass, 20% protein Soybean oil meal, 44% protein Meat meal, 50% protein Limestone Bone meal Iodized salt Manganese sulphate Feeding oil (2,2501.U. vitamin A Oug.) . Riboflavin Niacin Calcium pantothenate a-tocopheryl acetate Vitamin B12
Ration
Per 100 lb. 59.0 10.0 10.0 2.0 10.0 2.0 3.5 2.5 0.5 0.02 0.5 gm. 0.18 gm. 1.5 gm. 0.8 gm. 0.25 gm. 0.0001 gm.
Ration 2.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles. Ration 3.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles plus the following vitamins per pound: Vitamin A 8,000 I.U. Vitamin D 1,200 I.C.U. Tocopheryl acetate 38.0 mg. Riboflavin 3.6 mg. Calcium pantothenate 16.0 mg. Niacin 30.0 mg. Folacin 0.8 mg. Choline chloride 1.8 gm. Vitamin Bu 2.0 mg. Ration 4.—Basal ration plus 3% condensed herring solubles plus 0.8 mg. folacin per pound.
Replaced Reason for replacement May 19 April 2 July 6 July 6
Thin, poor condition Died Thin, poor condition Thin, poor condition
which they were to mate. Although 10 males were maintained on each experimental ration the original males put into the breeding pens were used except for the replacements indicated in Table 3. The males were rotated weekly within treatments. Egg production and mortality in the hens is given in Table 3. The eggs were gathered 4 times daily, marked with the pen number and date, and were stored at 55-60°F. The first setting of eggs was made on March 18, 1959. Settings were made once weekly. All eggs were individually candled at 7, 14, and 24 days of incubation. All clear eggs and eggs containing dead embryos were removed and broken open to determine the approximate time of embryonic death. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results on fertility, embryonic mortality and hatchability by 4-week periods and for the entire experiment are shown in Table 4. It will be seen that fertility was high throughout the whole of the experimental period (average 89.9%). There was a greater drop in fertility in the basal group (1) and in the group (2) fed the supple-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Boston University on June 29, 2015
F M
TABLE 3.—Egg production, mortality and replacement
244
COOPER, BIELY, MARCH, MACLEOD AND TARR
TABLE 4.—Summary of incubation results
Week
1-4
Ration » > . - « ,
10.4 11.5 12.1 14.6
82.8 77.4 75.9 76.4
74.1 72.1 70.2 66.7
2,472
9.4
5.5
4.2
12.1
78.2
70.8
675 531 534 473
6.4 7.3 13.1 10.4
7.1 7.3 13.2 7.3
1.4 1.4 1.1 2.4
13.9 13.4 9.3 13.9
77.5 77.8 76.3 76.4
72.6 72.1 66.3 68.5
2,213
9.1
8.6
1.5
12.7
77.1
70.1
467 469 482 433
5.8 7.9 6.4 10.2
5.2 13.2 7.8 8.0
5.7 3.9 3.6 6.9
11.6 13.4 15.7 11.0
77.5 69.2 72.7 73.5
73.0 63.8 68.0 66.1
1,851
7.5
8.5
5.0
13.0
73.5
67.7
311 212 252 312
12.9 6.1 6.7 17.3
9.6 9.0 11.9 11.2
5.5 7.0 5.5 5.8
16.2 24.1 19.5 19.4
68.6 59.3 63.1 63.6
59.8 55.7 58.9 52.6
1,087
11.4
10.5
5.9
19.5
64.0
56.8
1 2 3 4
170 96 154 115
30.0 8.3 18.8 33.9
7.6 20.4 13.6 10.5
8.4 10.2 4.8 6.6
20.2 27.3 24.0 15.8
63.9 42.0 57.6 67.1
44.7 38.5 46.8 44.3
Total
535
23.7
12.8
7.4
22.1
57.8
44.1
1 2 3 4
2,268 1,888 2,063 1,939
10.1 7.3 9.5 13.6
6.0 9.3 10.1 7.2
3.8 4.2 3.4 5.0
13.1 14.7 14.0 14.4
77.0 71.7 72.4 73.3
69.3 66.5 65.6 63.4
Total
8,158
10.1
8.1
4.1
14.0
73.7
66.2
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
0-20
ment of condensed herring solubles plus folic acid than in the other two groups after the 16th week. Since only 4 males are represented in each dietary treatment, however, the differences in fertility can hardly be ascribed to the diet fed. Egg production was similar for hens on all diets and the rate of lay declined at the same rate in each treatment. Hatchability of fertile eggs during the first 12 weeks of the experiment for groups
1 to 4 respectively was 79.4, 75.1, 75.1, and 75.6%. During the last 8 weeks of the experiment hatchability of fertile eggs from the respective groups was 67.2, 54.0, 61.2 and 64.4%. Embryonic mortality during the 1st, 2nd-3rd and 4th week of incubation in each treatment throughout the experiment is shown graphically in Figure 1. As would be expected, two peaks of embryonic mortality occurred, viz. during
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Boston University on June 29, 2015
3.3 4.8 4.0 4.9
Total 17-20
Dead-inshell
3.5 6.3 7.9 4.2
Total 13-16
8-24 days
Percent hatchability (all eggs)
10.5 6.9 7.5 12.7
Total 9-12
0-7 days
Percent hatchability (fertile eggs)
645 580 641 606
1 2 3 4 Total
5-8
Percent
Embryonic mortality percent of fertile eggs
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
245
DEAD-IN-SHELL
10 0 O
10
DIED 0-7 D
o ca X. LU
S-8 7-/2 DURAT ION OF BREEDING
/J-/6 /7-20 SEASON -WEEKS
FIG. 1. Turkey embryonic mortality over a 20-week breeding season with the following vitamin supple ments to the basal ration: 1. basal ration; 2. 3 % condensed herring solubles; 3. 3 % condensed herring sol ubles plus additional pure vitamins; 4. 3 % condensed herring solubles plus folacin. (The heavy line is the average mortality for all treatments.)
the first 7 days and during the last 4 days of incubation. The decrease in hatchability which occurred as the season advanced was principally due to an increase in embryonic mortality during these 2 periods. It is interesting to note, however, that there was a general increase in mortality throughout the season at all stages of embryonic development. The reason for the failure of condensed fish solubles to improve hatchability over a prolonged breeding season in the present
experiment as compared with the favorable response obtained by Feldman el al. (1957) no doubt lies in the composition of the basal diets employed in the respective experiments. The diet used in the present experiment contained wheat, oats, barley soybean oil meal, meat meal and dehydrated cereal grass. The diet used by Feldman el al. was made up of corn, milo and soybean oil meal in addition to minerals and pure vitamins. With our basal diet the hatchability of fertile eggs during
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Boston University on June 29, 2015
DIED 8-24 DAYS
246
COOPER, BIELY, MARCH, MACLEOD AND TARR
SUMMARY
Hatchability of turkey eggs over a 20week period was studied to determine if the decline in hatchability were due to depletion of vitamins in hens after production. A total of 8,158 eggs was set from hens fed 4 different diets. The hens had been reared on wire and were kept on slatted floors during the growing and breeding season. Males were rotated among the 4 pens of hens fed each diet. The basal diet supplied the vitamin levels recommended by Kratzer (1959). With this diet, no improvement in egg production, fertility or hatchability was observed in response to supplements of 3 % condensed herring solubles (ration 2), 3 % condensed herring solubles plus additional pure vitamins (ration 3) and 3 % condensed herring solubles plus folacin. Over the 20-week period fertility was 89.9% and hatchability was 73.7% of fertile eggs. Hatchability of fertile eggs was 76.4% during the first 12 weeks of the season and 62.2% in the period from 12-20 weeks. REFERENCES Atkinson, R. L., T. M. Ferguson, J. H. Quisenberry and J. R. Couch, 1955. Dehydrated alfalfa meal, condensed fish solubles, distillers dried solubles and dried whey as supplements to an all-vegetable protein turkey laying diet. Poultry Sci. 34: 730-735. Atkinson, R. L., T. M. Ferguson, J. H. Quisenberry and J. R. Couch, 1955. Vitamin E and reproduction in turkeys. J. Nutrition 55: 387-397. Cochrane, W. G., and G. Cox, 1957. Experimental Design. 2nd ed. Wiley, New York. Dickens, F. L., R. T. Parkhurst and C. R. Fellers, 1941. Corn distillers dried grains with solubles in poultry rations. Poultry Sci. 20: 536-542. Feldman, G. L., R. L. Atkinson, B. G. Creech, T. M. Ferguson, B. L. Reid and J. R. Couch, 1957. The effect of dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried brewers yeast and condensed fish solubles on the reproductive performance of turkeys. Poultry Sci. 36: 792-797. Ferguson, T. M., H. P. Vaught, B. L. Reid and
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the 13th to the 20th week of the experiment was 67.2%. Since supplementing this diet with condensed herring solubles and additional pure vitamins was without effect on egg production or hatchability it is apparent that the decline in egg production and hatchability did not occur because the hens became depleted of vitamins as the season progressed. The data do not invalidate the conclusion from the results of a previous experiment that condensed herring solubles is an effective vitamin supplement (March et al., 1959) since in the present experiment the basal diet used was already adequate for breeding stock without additional vitamin supplementation. Of interest are the following percentages of eggs which were classed as deadin-shell but which did pip: basal ration, 40.0%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles, 36.8%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles plus vitamin, 38.5%; basal ration plus condensed herring solubles plus folic acid, 41.9%. The similarity in these figures suggests that the rations were adequate and that perhaps incubation conditions were not optimum. It is concluded from the results obtained that the vitamin levels recommended by Kratzer (1959) are sufficient to maintain fertility and hatchability in Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys over a prolonged breeding season. Condensed herring solubles, although a good source of the vitamin B-complex, evidently did not supply any unidentified hatchability factors not already present in the components of the basal diet. The decline in general reproductive capacity that had taken place by the end of 20 weeks could not be ascribed to nutritional deficiencies. Physiological factors inherent in the breed and strain of birds used in the test appear to have been responsible.
REPRODUCTION OF TURKEYS
J. R. Couch, 1956. The effect of vitamin E, dehydrated alfalfa meal and condensed fish solubles upon hatchability of eggs from Broad Breasted Bronze hens maintained on litter. Poultry Sci. 35: 872-875. Jensen, L. S., 1953. Vitamin E, niacin and grass juice in turkey hen nutrition. Proc. 1953 Cornell Nutrition Conf. Feed Mfrs., pp. 62-65. Jensen, L. S., and M. L. Scott, G. F. Heuser, L. C. Norris and T. S. Nelson, 1956. Studies on the nutrition of breeding turkeys. 1. Evidence indicating a need to supplement practical turkey rations with vitamin E. Poultry Sci. 35: 810-816. March, B. E., J. Biely, H. L. A. Tarr and R. A.
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MacLeod, 1959. The use of condensed herring solubles in turkey poult rations. Prog. Rep. Pac. Coast Sta. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 113: 3-5. Kratzer, F. H., P. N. Davis, B. J. Marshall and D. E. Williams, 1955. The pantothenic acid requirement of turkey hens. Poultry Sci. 34:68-72. Kratzer, F. H., P. N. Davis and U. K. Abbott, 1956. The folic acid requirements of turkey breeder hens. Poultry Sci. 35: 711-716. Kratzer, F. H., 1959. Vitamin requirements of turkeys. Turkey World, January, 1959, p. 32. Scott, M. L., and T. A. Nelson, 1955. Quantitative studies on vitamin E in turkey hatchability. Poultry Sci. 34: 1233-1234.
W. J. MELLEN
Poultry Science Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Received for publication May 4, 1960)
T
HE recent use of radioactive iodine (I131) in thyroid secretion rate (TSR) studies has constituted a significant advance in the field of thyroid physiology. Potential applications in poultry research are numerous, and some investigators have already started to exploit these (Premachandra et al., 1958; Mueller and Amezcua, 1959; Mellen and Wentworth, 1960). Pipes et al. (1958) have called attention to the complicating effect of "recycled" I131 on apparent release rate of thyroidal I131, pointing out that some of the inorganic I131 available from metabolized thyroid hormone again reaches the thyroids and can be re-incorporated into thyroglobulin. In chickens, this re-utilization of I131 occurs to such an extent that TSR estimates (based on calculation of the exogenous thyroxine dose which
* Contribution No. 1241 from the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station.
blocks further release of thyroidal I131) are difficult or impossible unless an antithyroid drug such as thiouracil is administered. As Pipes et al. (1958) state: "It is not necessary to completely block the uptake of recycled I131 with thiouracil, but only to inhibit uptake to the point where increased accuracy results due to a more rapid apparent rate of release of thyroidal I131." All authors previously cited fed thiouracil as 0.1% of the ration. The experiment reported below was conceived because of the following considerations: (1) Although it has been claimed by Turner et al. (1959) that "estimation of thyroxine secretion rate is not affected by goitrogens," Reineke and Singh (1955) reported that estimates in rats given thiouracil were about 10% higher than in those not receiving the drug. (2) Results obtained in this laboratory show that ad libitum feeding of thiouracil as 0.1% of the ration does not completely block thyroid hormone syn-
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EfPects of Thiouracil Level and Pen Position on Thyroxine Secretion Rate Determined by I131 Assay*