2010 Volume 63 Issue 11 Pages 870-873
On an institution raising copper pheasants (Syrmaticus soemmerringii) and common pheasants (Phasianus versicolor), with about 20 adult birds of each species, the hatchability of their eggs and the survival rate of poults to four days of age decreased markedly in the breeding season between March and June of 2009. The ingredients of feed for the adult birds in 2009 were different from those in previous years. Most of the poults developed leg weakness immediately after hatching. The histological changes of eight affected poults were characterized by hyalinous degeneration with subsequent regenerative changes of the breast and leg skeletal muscles. Feeding experiments with both species of 12 adult birds each disclosed an insufficient supply of selenium to both adult species in 2009 compared with the previous year.
