Manganese (Mn) is an industrial neurotoxicant in humans and animal models limited to rodent species. The present study analyses the potential neurotoxicity of acute Mn administration in young chicks. The acute (24 h) LD50 values of Mn following intraperitoneal, intramuscular, subcutaneous and oral administrations of MnCl2 in seven-day-old chicks were 21.3 mg kg-1, 28.1 mg kg-1, 28.1 mg kg-1 and...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the present study was to determine whether mango saponin (MS) could be used as a feed additive in broiler chicks by evaluating growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and plasma biochemical indices. METHODS A total of 216 1-d-old Arbor Acres male broiler chicks were randomly assigned into three dietary treatments supplemented with 0 (control), 0.1...

Social influences on foraging efforts were examined in domestic chicks by investigating the frequency of runs made to feeders and the amount of pecking to gain food. Single or paired chicks foraged in an I-shaped maze equipped with a millet feeder on each end, that distributed one or two grains at variable intervals. Regardless of when the grain(s) were dispensed, chicks ran back and forth betw...

The effects of dietary additives and holding time on resistance and resilience of broiler chickens to Clostridium perfringens challenge were investigated by offering four dietary treatments. These were a negative control (basal), a positive control (Zn-bacitracin) and two dietary additives, mannanoligosaccharides (MOS), and acidifier. Two holding times included (a) immediate access to feed and ...

Objective: To determine the frequency of different congenital anomalies in surviving chick embryo on hatching after the prenatal administration of valproic acid by comparing with age-matched controls. Study Design: Experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Anatomy Department, College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) Regional Centre, Islamabad, from February 2010 to February 2011....

We examined the effects of orally administrated amino acids on myfibrillar proteolysis in food-deprived chicks. Plasma N(tau)-methylhistidine concentration, as an index of myofibrillar proteolysis, was decreased by the administration of Glu, Gly, Ala, Leu, Ile, Ser, Thr, Met, Trp, Asn, Gln, Pro, Lys and Arg but not by Asp, Val, Phe, Tyr or His to chicks. Orally administrated Cys was fatal to ch...

The culturability of three Campylobacter jejuni strains and their infectivity for day-old chicks were assessed following storage of the strains in saline. The potential for colonization of chicks was weakened during the storage period and terminated 3 to 4 weeks before the strains became nonculturable. The results from this study suggest that the role of starved and aged but still culturable ca...

Dietary furazolidone (500 ppm or higher) significantly slowed the growth of chicks fed either a conventional or a purified diet and of turkeys fed a conventional diet. Deaths were significantly increased in turkeys fed 500 ppm and in chicks fed 700 ppm in the purified diet. Ratio of heart to body weight was significantly increased by furazolidone in turkeys, but not in chicks. Furazolidone did ...

Telomeres are sensitive to damage induced by oxidative stress, and thus it is expected that dietary antioxidants may support the maintenance of telomere length in animals, particularly those with a fast rate of life (e.g. fast metabolism, activity and growth). We tested experimentally the effect of antioxidant supplements on telomere length during early development in wild gull chicks with natu...

This study was conducted to determine whether early age feed restriction improves heat tolerance in female broiler chickens. Chicks were brooded for 3 wk and then maintained at 24+/-1 C. On Day 0, chicks were assigned to one of four feeding regimens; each regimen was applied to four cages of chicks. The feeding regimens were 1) ad libitum feeding (ALF); 2) 40% feed restriction at 4, 5, and 6 d ...