Using 72 one-week-old male White Leghorn chicks, an attempt was made to study whether or not earthworms and grasshoppers can replace fish meal in chick diets.
Earthworms had protein content as high as and amino acid content similar to fishmeal except the content of methionine, glycine, valine and proline. Crude protein of grasshoppers was much higher than that of fish meal but its amino acid content was lower. The digestibility and feeding experiment showed that earthworms can be practically used for poultry feed as a dietary protein source. Although it is suspected that the protein would be further improved by supplementing methionine. The TDN level and the ME level of lyophilized earthworms were 81.9% and 3.76kcal/g, respectively. There were little differences in weight of organs (liver, kidney, muscle, spleen and pancreas) among the chicks fed earthwrms, grasshoppers and fish meal.

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Plywood pieces (1×5×0.3cm) were contaminated artificially with 10^4.5 of Escherichia coli or 10^4.7 of Staphylococcus aureus per piece. Also, the pieces and plywood boards (60×90×0.3cm) were placed in the floor of a chicken house during 1 week to contaminate naturally. A number of 10^7.3 of bacteria contaminated per piece or of 10^6.5 per 1 cm² in the board.
The pieces were placed in a wooden box (1 m³ of capacity) and the boards in a room (14.5 m³ capacity). A volume of 40 ml of formalin per m³ of the capacity were sprayed like a mist. A high degree of disinfection was obtained as well as the fumiga-tion using the same volume of formalin.

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Rice saccharification residue (RSR), a by-product of Japanese rice wine, is evaluated as a feedingstuff for the chicken. Chicks fed a RSR-containing semipurified diet supplemented with arginine, glycine, lysine, methionine and threonine grew as well as the chicks fed a soyprotein diet supplemented with methionine and glycine. The trial used cockerels showed that digestibility, biological value and metabolizable energy value were 83%, 65% and 2.79kcal/g, respectively. Broilers fed practical type deits containing up to 6% protein equivalent RSR grew as well as broilers fed a practical type diet alone. Feeding practical type diets containing up to 6% protein equivalent of RSR showed that laying hens had a comparable performance as that of hens fed a practical corn-soybean diet. RSR protein only supplemented with lysine was effectively used as a protein supplement up to 6% protein equivalent for formulation of corn-soybean practical type diets for chickens.

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Eight-day old chicks were fed the diets containing leaf protein concentrates (LPCs) with or without supplementation of deficient amino acids as a sole protein source to supply 19-20% crude protein in the diet. The performance of the chicks fed the LPC diets was compared with that fed the methionine supplemented soybean protein control diet. The LPCs used here were obtained from the mixture of alfalfa+barnyard grass (LPC A), from the mixture of oat+annual meadow grass (LPC B) and from ladino clover (LPC C). Chemical analysis showed that the LPC A diet was deficient in arginine and methionine and the LPC C diet in arginine, when compared to the NRC requirements for chicks. Feed intake of the birds fed the LPC A or LPC A+Arg+Met were not significantly different from that of the control diet, while the birds received the LPC B consumed significantly more diet than the control. Feed intake of the birds fed the LPC C or LPC C+Arg were significantly lower than that of the control. Body weight gain and feed efficiency were significantly lower in the LPCs than in the control. Even when the deficient amino acids were supplemented to the LPC diets no significant improvement of both body weight gain and feed efficiency was observed. Nitrogen retention rate was significantly lower in the LPC diets than in the soybean protein control diet even when the LPCs were supplemented with deficient amino acids. Energy metabolizability was extremely low in the LPC diets compared to that of the soybean protein diet. Among the LPCs including those supplemented with deficient amino acids, LPC B (oat+annual meadow grass) showed the highest protein utilization and energy metabolizability. The inferiority of LPCs in protein and energy utilization might lead the low nutritive value of LPCs for poultry.

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Two experiments were made to investigate the water-soaking effect on the utilization of the phosphorus in wheat and wheat bran.
Wheat and wheat bran ground by impact mill with 1.0 mm screen were separately mixed well with the same weight of water and incubated for 6 or 20 hours at room temperature (16∼20°C). They were then dried in a forced draft oven at 40°C and reground.
Phosphorus deficient diets containing either 55% of untreated wheat or 25% of untreated wheat bran, of which total phosphorus contents were 0.58% and 0.54% respectively, were used as a basal diet.
To these basal diets, phosphorus from calcium phosphate was added at the levels of 0.05% and 0.10%. Water-soaked wheat and wheat bran replaced all untreated wheat bran in the basal diet. These diets were then fed to 8-day-old chicks for three weeks. At the end of the third week, the chicks were killed and left tibia was removed for the bone ash determination.
By water-soaking for 20 hours, 49% of phytate phosphorus in wheat and 38% of that in wheat bran were hydrolyzed to inorganic phosphorus. Body weight gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency were improved by feeding of soaked wheat and wheat bran. Metabolizable energy of experimental diets tended to be improved by soaking of wheat and wheat bran. The increase in tibia ash content by feeding of soaked wheat and wheat bran was equivalent to that by addition of inorganic phosphorus to corresponing basal diet at the level of 0.05-0.06%.
These results indicate that soaking wheat and wheat bran improve not only body weight gain and feed efficiency but the phosphorus utilization for chicks.

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The present experiment was performed to investigate a method of indicating the absorptive power of the intestine using the difference in the absorption per surface area of intestinal mucosa in chickens. For this purpose, some factors, such as a change in the mucosal surface area under various conditions and differences in relative ratios of weight, length and surface area of several parts of the intestine using a variety of chicken's breeds were used and the following results were obtained.
(1) The changes of mucosal surface area of intestine with the lapse of time after the take out from body were measured using the intestine stored in unairconditioned room (20±°C, 1-7 hrs) and in refrigerator (7±1°C, 1-70 hrs). The values in an unairconditioned room and in a refrigerator were relatively steady at 2-3 hrs and 40-50 hrs after the take out intestine from body, respectively.
(2) The relative ratios in weight, length and mucosal surface area were fairly different among the individual parts of the intestine and among the breeds of the chickens used. This might be due to a difference in the length of circomference and thickness of the intestinal tract by the breeds or the parts of intestine. From these results, it is concluded that the absorptive power of intestine can be more accurately evaluated by the absorption per surface area of mucosa than by the absorption per weight or length of the intestinal tract of chickens.

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Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of disinfection of a chickencage house by customary techniques on reduction of contaminating bacteria. In Exp.1, the house was washed 14l/m² of water by jet stream. A volume of 0.4l/m² oforthodichlorobenzene diluted 1 in 100 and of invert soap diluted 1 in 1000 were sprayed in succession. In Exp. 2, 16l/m² of water were sprayed for washing and brushing with jet stream was conducted on the floor, cage stands and lower part of wall of the house. The same concentration of the disinfectants were used. But volume of 2 kinds of the disinfectant sprayed was increased to 0.6l/m², respectively.
A significant reduction of bacteria by washing and by spraying of 2 kind disinfectants was observed on the floor and upper face of the beam in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2. A number of bacteria on the cage stands were reduced significantly in Exp. 2. No reduction of bacteria was observed on the wall, down face of the beam and the attic of the house. After disinfection, 10^1.2 to 10^3.7 of bacteria per cm² were detected from the house. Visible effect was not observed to increase volume of water for washing and of disinfectants for disinfection.

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