In order to investigate the possibility that neonatally olfactory bulbectomized chickens can increase the food intake, as seen in adult anosmic chickens, newly hatched male White Leghorn chicks were bulbectomized within 24 hours after hatch and food intake, water drinking, body weight and thyroid glands were periodically examined from 15-day to 130-day old. Anosmic chickens showed no changes in the food intake and body weight. Besides, thyroid glands of operated chickens showed no marked morphological alterations except that some comparatively developed simple cuboidal epitheliums were more frequently observed among simple squamous ones than those of controls. The marked hyperphagia and activated follicles in the thyroid glands seen in the adult anosmic chickens were not demonstrated in this study. Whereas, unexpected decrease of the water drinking was observed in bulbectomized birds.
These findings suggest that an interaction between the olfactory bulb and the thyroid gland is not completely established during the early days of life in chickens and that the olfactory bulb might play an important role in guiding the water drinking behaviors.

View full abstract

Methionine sulfoximine (MSM) was injected into chickens fed 5% protein diet at dosages of 20, 50, 75 and 100mg/kg body wt. The remaining activity of liver glutamine synthetase 7hr after dosing decreased with an increase of its dose, ranging from 12% to 6% of the control activity. The decreased plasma glutamine concentration 1.5hr after MSM treatment or later became low as a dose of MSM was increased. Blood ammonia concentration sharply increased up to 2.5hr after a transient unchange or fall and reached the steady state level at 4.5hr which was in proportion to MSM-dose. At 4.5hr the blood ammonia concentration was inversely correlated with plasma glutamine concentration (r=0.679). The rate of urinary excretion of ammonia rapidly increased for the first 3-4hr in similar manners and magnitudes in all chickens treated with MSM except 20mg MSM-dose. Almost the same time course patterns of plasma uric acid or urinary uric acid excretion in the doses of 50, 75 and 100mg tended to be low between 1 and 4hr after dosing as compared with 20mg MSM-dosed and control chickens. Any doses of MSM gave no effect on excretion of total urinary nitrogen. It is concluded that each of the time courses of blood glutamine, ammonia and uric acid and of urinary ammonia, uric acid and total nitrogen responds to a dose of MSM in similar manners at low and high protein intakes.

View full abstract

Two-way selection for antibody titers to Leucocytozoon caulleryi was carried out using White Leghorn (WL) and Rhode Island Red (RIR) strains. The selection was conducted for five generations in WL and four generations in RIR. The antibody titer was measured under the condition of natural infection, in which the proportion of infected chickens usually being more than 90%.
The selection was effective and, with the exception of 2nd and 3rd generations in RIR, the difference between the high (H) and low (L) lines increased with each successive generation of selection. Realized heritability was as much as 0.17 in WL and 0.15 in RIR. Egg production in the summer, epidemic season of leucocytozoonosis, was better in the L line than in the H line. The proportion of chickens negative to the antibody to L. caulleryi was also higher in the L line. These results suggest that the H line is more susceptible to leucocytozoonosis and the L line more resistant.
Changes in gene frequencies at five polymorphic loci concerning blood group A, B, D. and E, and plasma alkaline phosphatase Akp were examined. The frequency of alleles only at the B locus showed consistent changes throughout the period of selection.

View full abstract

Because environmental temperature during storage has deep influence on the data of specific gravity or Haugh units, 2 regression equations each were obtained for each of 4 seasons to describe the relationship between days of storage of eggs after being laid and either specific gravity or Haugh units.
In this paper, it was tried to describe the relationships by a single equation, taking the storage temperature as another function.
Following equations shown as Equation (1)-(3) were found fit to describe the relationship.
Specific gravity (M and L egg size):
y=1.0852-(0.00056+0.00009t)x …(1)
Haugh units (M egg size):
y=(87.03-0.39t)-(0.57+0.04t)x …(2)
Haugh units (L egg size):y=(90.41-0.56t)-(0.80+0.03t)x …(3)where, y is average of either specific gravity or Haugh units of the eggs tested, t average room temperature (°C) during storage, x days of storage after being laid.
A procedure is recommended for estimation of the days of storage of the eggs in the markets to answer the question of Japanese consumers.
Samples of 10 eggs each are purchased in a market and the storage temperature in the market is recorded. Specific gravity and Haugh units of the sample are determined immediately. The days of storage are estimated from the average of 10 eggs, using Equation (1)-(3). Average of two estimates, one from specific gravity and the other from Haugh units, gives the estimate of the sample of which standard deviation is 0.99 days.

View full abstract

In order to elucidate the nutritional and physiological role of bound and free ascorbic acid in the chicken, the distribution of these two forms of ascorbic acid in the tissues of White Leghorn male chickens was studied. Bound and free ascorbic acid in the plasma and tissues of the chickens were determined by the α, α′-dipyridyl method. Bound and free forms of ascorbic acid were separated by gel filtration on Sephadex G-25M column and were found in the high molecular weight fraction and the low molecular weight fraction, respectively.
The order of the concentration of bound ascorbic acid in the tissues was given as adrenals>liver>lungs, thyroids, spleen, kidneys>pancreas, brain>testes>plasma. On the other hand, the order of the concentration of free ascorbic acid was given as adrenals>spleen>brain>liver>lungs>thyroids, pancreas, testes>kidneys>plasma. The ratios of the content of bound ascorbic acid to that of free ascorbic acid in the plasma and tissues were smaller than 50%. Consequently, the tissue contents of bound form were generally lower than that of free form. The highest ratio of the content of bound form to that of total ascorbic acid was observed in the plasma (29.9%) and the ratios in other tissues ranged from approximately 3 to 17%.
These results indicate that there are differences between bound form and free form in the tissue distribution of ascorbic acid in chickens and the tissue contents of bound form are generally lower than that of free form. Further study, however, will be required to clarify the differences of the nutritional and physiological function between bound and free ascorbic acid.

View full abstract

Mie Native Fowl (Mie Jidori) maintained in Mie prefecture exhibited buff Columbian plumage. In order to clarify the genotype of this plumage, Mie Native Fowl males were mated with wheaten and wild type plumage females of Gifu Native Fowl. The results obtained are as follows.
From the matings of Mie Native Fowl males and wheaten plumage females (e^y e^y) of Gifu Native Fowl, F₁ and F₂ generations were obtained. Down color and plumage pattern of F₁ chicks were similar to those of the Mie Native Fowl. Of 65 F₂ mature birds, 44 were buff Columbian plumage and remaining 21 were wild type or wheaten plumage. The plumage patterns of these two groups were similar to those of the Mie Native Fowl and the Gifu Native Fowl respectively. The segregation ratio of the two plumage types was in accord with 3:1 (P>0.25). This indicated that the gene for the buff Columbian plumage of the Mie Native Fowl could be Co.
Another mating was made to determine the allele at E-locus in the Mie Native Fowl, since it was considered that genes at the E-locus might have some influence to the expression of Columbian plumage (Co). F₁ males (Co co⁺) produced by mating between Mie Native Fowl males and Gifu Native Fowl females were crossed with wild type plumage females (co⁺ co⁺ e⁺ e^y) of Gifu Native Fowl. As the result, 17 buff Columbian fowls, 8 buff Columbian fowls with a few black feathers on the neck, 21 wild type plumage fowls (16 males and 5 females), and 4 wheaten plumage fowls were produced. These results suggested that the gene at E-locus in the Mie Native Fowl could be e^y.

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract