Lactobacillus sporogenes was isolated by NAKAYAMA et al. (1949) and kindly supplied by them to Sankyo Company.
Experiments were conducted to determine the promotion of L. sporogenes and its biological responses for chickens were observed.
Day-old single comb White Leghorn cockerels obtained from a commercial hatchery were reared in electrically-heated, metal wire floored battery brooders. The ten birds each were used in experimental and control groups, and trials were repeated seven times.
The preparations containing 1×10⁹ spores of L. sporogenes per gram was fed to chickens at the dietary level of 100ppm for 4 weeks.
The results were as follows; L. sporogenes caused an increase of weight gain and an improvement of feed efficiency in chickens fed for 4 weeks.
The vegetative cells and spores of L. sporogenes were recovered from and the amount of lactic acid increased in the small intestine and caecum when chicken were fed the organisms. However, the pH of intestinal contents, and the amount of serum cholesterol and serum lactic acid were not significantly different from control values.

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Available energy of 4 yeasts grown on hydrocarbon in 4 different companies in this country and 2 yeasts grown on sulfite-pulp waste liquor in a company was estimated by bioassay procedure, using total 560 meat-type one-day-old chicks of both sexes. Cellulose, soybean oil, yellow corn and soybean meal were used as standard materials, of which metabolizable energy was 0, 9.21, 3.48 and 2.28kcal/g air-dry matter.
Nitrogen-corrected metabolizable energy and digestibility of crude protein of these yeasts were also determined, collecting excreta for 2 days from 26 days of age.
Available energy estimated on body weight gain per unit of feed taken, i. e. feed efficiency at 4 and 8 weeks of age, and metabolizable energy estimated by analyzing the excreta chemically were quite agreeable, suggesting the reliability of the procedures to determine both of available energy and metabolizable energy.
The highest caloric value of 3.38kcal/g dry matter was obtained on Yeast A grown on hydrocarbon. The calolic value of yeasts grown on hydrocarbon was different among 4 samples, but the value was higher than that of the yeasts grown on sulfite-pulp waste liquor.
Digestibility of crude protein of the yeasts grown on hydrocarbon was excellent and almost constant, being 84% in average.
Highly significant correlation was observed between caloric value and crude protein content of 6 yeast on dry-basis, while the correlation was not significant between caloric value and gross energy content. The findings, as well as that of excellent digestibility of yeast protein, suggest that the protein content of yeast may be an useful indicator to evaluate nutritive value of yeast roughly.

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Collaborative experiments at 6 Perfectural Poultry Experiment Stations with 1, 400 White Leghorn pullets were carried out to study the effect of regulation of body weight and egg production by restricting the daily feed supply. Feed supply was so restricted that 80, 70 or 60% level fo that of control pullets fed ad libitum at each of the Stations. After 20 weeks, all the pullets were fnll-ted the layer diet.
1. Average intake of feed of the pullets fed ad libitum was 7.8kg and those of pullets fed 80, 70 and 60% diet were 6.4kg, 5.6kg and 4.5kg, respectively.
Body weight gains of the pullets at 20 weeks of age were found to be linear, being lower in obedience to restrictive extent. The difference in body weight among the groups was shown even at 68 weeks of age.
2. Sexual maturity of the pullets was delayed and the weight of the 1st egg was heavier in obedience to restrictive extent, although the first egg weight of the restrictive grops was not heavier than that of the control at the identical age.
3. The quantity of egg production of each restrictive group for the period from 20 to 68 weeks of age was smaller than that of the control, and the difference of quantity nearly corresponded to that of the egg production during 20 to 32 weeks of age.
4. Kilograms of feed per kilogram of eggs of 60% restrictive group for entire period was the lowest among those of the other groups, the difference being significant at 5% lovel between 60% and 80% restrictive groups.
5. It was suggested that either the pragram of 70%-restrict feeding or of full feeding is the most economic for growing egg-type pullets,

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In a collaborative experiments, 1220 female and 160 male one-day-old White Leghorn chicks were reared in 6 Prefectural Experiment or Breeding Stations for 52 weeks. Half of the chicks were fed the control diet and the other half were fed the experimental diet containing 15% of one of 4 kinds of hydrocarbon yeast throughout the experimental period, which were cultivated on n-paraffin in 4 companies in this country. The experimental design was to obtain and rear offsprings of hens fed hydrocarbon yeast for several generations. In this paper, the data on the first generation of the long-term collaborative experiments are presented.
Excellent livability during growing and laying stages, high egg production with good feed conversion, normal egg size and adult body size, high fertility and hatchability suggested that hydrocarbon yeast was a good protein source for poultry feed without any chronic toxicity. No deformity was found among the offsprings on hydrocarbon yeast.

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Rice powder, on which Aspergillus flavus was cultivated, was fed to laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and one-day-old male White Leghorn chicks as the preliminary experiment to compare the effect of aflatoxin on chicks and quails.
Although the number of the chicks was only 20 in total, it was apparent that the feed intake for 7 weeks was in inverse proportion to the dietary level of rice powder. The decrcase of feed intake reflected on slow growth rate. However, contrary to the expectation, neither the enlargement of the liver, pancrease and spleen nor the regression of the bursa of Fabricius was observed. Cultivation of A. flavus lowered metabolizable energy of rice by about 10%.
Average egg production of 21 quails for 14 days was in inverse proportion to the dietary level of rice powder, suggesting that egg production of quail is a good criterion to estimate the biological activity of aflatoxin. Between the quails on the control and those on the diet containing 40% of rice powder, little difference was observed in weight of the liver, pancreas and spleen.

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Conventional feeding system of chicken in Japan is divided into four steps; 0-4 weeks (CP 20-TDN 68%), 4-10 weeks (CP17-TDN 66%), 10 weeks-age at first egg (CP 14.5-TDN 65%) and laying (CP 16-TDN 66%). This phase feeding system is divided into five steps; 0-4 weeks (CP 20-TDN 68%), 4-20 weeks (CP 12-TDN 75%), 20-30 weeks (CP 19-TDN 70%), 30-50 weeks (CP 16-TDN 66%) and 50-72 weeks (CP 14-TDN 66%).
The results were as follows.
1) No difference was found in body weight gain and feed conversion between both feeding systems at 20 weeks, but feed intake per hen per day on phase feeding from 4 weeks to 20 weeks was low compared with conventional feeding.
2) When low protein-high energy feed was fed during the growing period, a significantly lower record was recognized at 5% level on egg production and feed conversion from 20 weeks to 30 weeks compared with the conventional feeding.
3) When high protein-high energy feed (CP 19-TDN 70%) was fed for pullet, the egg production performance from 20 weeks to 30 weeks did not increase compared with conventional laying feed (CP 16-TDN 66%). But body weight at 30 weeks was heavier than conventional laying lot.
4) When low protein-high energy grower feed was fed from 4 weeks to 20 weeks, the average egg weight from 20 weeks to 72 weeks was smaller than when conventional grower feed was given.
5) When low protein laying feed (CP 14-TDN 66%) was fed from 50 weeks to 72 weeks, the egg production performance did not decrease compared with the conventional laying feed lot. This finding was the same as in the previous report.

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[in Japanese]

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