Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of soaking barley on the phosphorus utilization for chicks. Three varieties of domestic barley, Hoshimasari, Katorimugi and Sanadamugi were used. Each barley ground by impact mill with 1.0mm screen was mixed well with the same weight of water and incubated for 16 hours at room temperature. Then, it was dried in a forced draft oven at 40°C and reground. The experimental diets containing 55-58% untreated or treated barley which were low in phosphorus content were fed to 8-day-old chicks for 2 weeks. At the end of the second week, the chicks were killed and the left tibia was removed from each chick for the bone ash determination.
By soaking in water, 35-59% of phytate phosphorus in all of the samples was hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphorus. Body weight gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency were significantly improved by feeding every varieties of soaked barley. Metabolizable energy of experimental diets tended to be improved by soaking in two varieties of barley, Hoshimasari and Sanadamugi. Increase in tibia ash content by feeding soaked barley was equivalent to that by addition of inorganic phosphorus to corresponding untreated barley diet at the level of 0.05-0.07%.
These results indicate that soaking barley improve not only body weight gain and feed efficiency but the phosphorus utilization for chicks.

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Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of disinfection by customary techniques on bacteria contamination of a chicken windowless house. The technique was modified by increasing the amount of water and times of brushing for washing of the house and by prolongation the period of drying after washing.
The house was washed by jet stream with 4l of water per m2. Surface of the wall and the floor of the house was brushed 6 times along the jet stream. A number of bacteria per cm2 were 104.5 on the ceiling, 105.2 on the wall and 106.2 on the floor before the washing, and decreased to 103.5, 103.9 and 105.2, respectively, after the washing. The house was disinfected twice with spraying 2 kinds of disinfectant solution ie., orthodichloro-benzene and invert soap in succession. The number of bacteria detected from the ceiling, wall and floor after the disinfection process was 102.1, 102.2 and 103.3, respectively.
With the increase of the amount of water from 4l/m2 to 6 or 8l/m2 with accompanying increase in the brushing times from 6 to 9 or 12 times, respectively, the number of bacteria on the wall decreased from 101.6 to 101.3 and 101.2, respectively, and that on the floor from 102.2 to 101.8 and 101.7, respectively. Little effect was observed on the number of bacteria among the length of drying period after washing.
High correlation was observed between the number of bacteria before and after spraying disinfectant solution.
logY=0.818logX+1.176 r=0.866
Y: Bacterial count after spraying disinfectant solutions
X: Bacterial count before spraying disinfectant solutions.

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The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of an anti-estrogen agent, tamoxifen, on patterns of sequential growth of ovarian follicles and transfer of yolk precursor into follicles in connection with serum vitellin values in laying hens. White leghorn hens laying in regular sequence of more than five eggs each were used. Each hens was orally administration once or twice at 12h or 24h interval of tamoxifen 10mg at a time in trial 1 and in trial 2, three different sets of experiment were conducted, 1, tamoxifen 20mg once; 2, 10mg, 5 times each other day; 3, 10mg, 5 times each day, respectivelly. Each hen which had laid between 8.00h and 10.00h in trial 1 and between 7.00h and 8.30h in in trial 2 was administered the first time tamoxifen at 15.00h of same day. By the tamoxifen treatments, reduction of the weight of ovulated ova, inhibition of sequential growth of each ovarian follicle, decrease of total amount of daily yolk deposition and remarkable drop of serum vitellin values were observed. Also accompanying ovulation delay of larger follicles, the duration of the rapid growth phase in follicles of less size showed a tendency to last for a few days longer. These changes became larger as the number of administration times increased. In all hens which showed serum vitellin titers lower than 1/32 of that just prior to the first administration egg laying were stopped from next day and all follicles at rapid growth phase became atretic 48h after the serum vitellin value dropped to the value indicated above. Changes of patterns of sequential growth of ovarian follicles and total amount of daily yolk deposition were similar to those of serum vitellin values.
From the results of the present study, it was suggested that esprogen within physiological ranges might play a role of positive feedback mechanism to FSH secretion because tamoxifen seemed to act inhibitively to FSH secretion rather than promotively. Pattern of sequential growth at a rapid phase was closely related to serum vitellin values, however usually, deposition of yolk precursor by each follicle was considered to have its upper limit in volume.

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Homozygous and heterozygous embryos for Bh gene were cultured with mineral-rich (MR: using chicken egg shell) and mineral-free (MF: using Saran Wrap(R)) methods after 2.5 days of normal incubation. The homozygotes died at Stages 19 to 25 of ZACCHEI'S standardization (corresponding to 4.5 to 8 days of normal incubation) in MR culture and at Stages 17 to 25 (corresponding to 3.5 to 8 days of normal incubation) in MF culture. These lethal stages were almost the same as that of the homozygous embryos developed in ovo and characteristic syndromes of the lethal embryos were likewise degeneration of the liver tissue and whole body subcutaneous haemorrhage. The findings that some of the moribund ho-mozygous embryos contained air babbles in the capillaries of the chorioallantoic membrane suggested that weakening of capillaries occurred not only in the embryo body but also in the extraembryonic tissues. Local degeneration of liver tissue was found at the posterior tip of the liver in some embryos at 12 days of incubation. Incidence of this abnormality in the left lobe was higher in MF embryos (about 80%) than in MR embryos (about 50%) regardless of the genotypes. The incidence in the right lobe was higher in the Bh type embryos (about 20%) than in the wild type (about 7%). With regard to the embryos developed in ovo, the incidence in the left lobe was 36% and 8% in the Bh and wild type, respectively, and that in the right lobe was 0.2% in both genotypes. Thus, incidence of this abnormality was enhanced under the culture condition and in the Bh type embryos. Ultrastructural observation revealed increase in number of large lipid droplets in liver cells of cultured embryos. In the region showing local degeneration of liver tissue, the degenerated cells were clearly discernible from the adjacent healthy cells. Char-acteristics of the degenerated cells were as follows. Cytoplasm was thin and scattered. Mitochondria with dense matrix and numerous cristae and numerous lysosomes were fre-quently seen, whereas no glycogen granules were found. Ultrastructural feature of the degenerated cells was similar regardless of the genotypes of embryos or whether the samples were taken from the cultured embryos or those developed in ovo.ONO and WAKASUGI: Bh Lethal Quail Embryos in vitro 379

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In order to examine the adequate level of sodium chloride in the diet given to colostomized chickens, 6-month-old single comb White Leghorn cockerels with or without an artificial anus were fed the conventional diet supplemented with 0.4% or 0.8% sodium chloride and the following results were obtained.
1) Birds were given the above mentioned feed for 2 months, and there was no significant difference in the body weight or feed intake between both groups. Urinary excretion of sodium and chlorine was dependent on the dietary sodium chloride level. The concentration of chlorine in the plasma as well as the hematocrit value were both within the normal range but, the chlorine concentration was significantly higher and the hematocrit value significantly lower in the chickens fed 0.8% sodium chloride than in those fed 0.4% sodium chloride.
2) Both water intake and water excretion were increased by adding 0.8% sodium chloride, regardless of the colostomy. The increase of water excretion was mostly attributed to the increase of water excretion into urine.
These results indicated that the colostomized chickens needed the same level of sodium chloride as non-operated ones.

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Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of pelleting conditions of rapeseed meal diet on 5-vinyl-2-oxazolidinethione (OZT) content and thyroid weight of chicks.
Male White Leghorn chicks were fed rapeseed meal diets containing 20% rapeseed meal or a soybean meal control diet. Rapeseed meal diets were offered as non-treated mash, non-steam pelleted and reground mash, steam pelleted (75°C) and reground mash or steam pelleted (90°C) and reground mash.
Thyroid weight of chicks fed rapeseed meal diets increased about two times as large as that fed the soybean meal control diet. Steam pelleting of the rapeseed meal diet decreased 4-6% of OZT content in the diet, but had no significant effect on thyroid weight of chicks. Non-steam pelleting of the rapeseed meal diet had no effect on both OZT content in the diet and thyroid weight of chicks.

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