Prolonged interference or suppression of maternal antibodies of the humoral immune response of newly hatched chicks to active immunization has been documented; however, the immunological mechanisms responsible for such suppression are still unclear. Laying hens were immunized with dinitrophenyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (DNP-KLH). Purified maternal anti-DNP or non-specific IgY antibodies were t...

individual decisions concerning the trade-off between somatic and reproductive investment (Dänhardt et al. 2011). Birds feeding chicks should deliver the most nutritious and optimally sized prey items to chicks in order to maximise chick growth (Baird 1991). How ever, whether a parent delivers prey to chicks or eats it itself, depends not only on prey value but also on the time and energy cost ...

AIM An experimental study was conducted on 192-day-old broiler chicks for evaluating the effect of 10% neem leaf extract (NLE) supplementationon biochemical parameters in chickens experimentally infected with Escherichia coli O78 at 10(7) CFU/0.5 ml at 7 days of age. MATERIALS AND METHODS The 192-day-old broiler chicks were procured. These chicks were divided into two groups (A and B) contain...

The intestine of the newly hatched chick is immature at hatch. Yeast contains nucleotides and β-glucans that enhance intestinal development and chick growth. Accordingly, a 14-d experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a novel yeast product and bacitracin methylene disalicylate in enhancing early growth and intestinal maturation in chicks obtained from young (26-27 wk old) and old (...

We studied prefledging growth, energy expenditure and time budgets of African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini, chicks on Robben Island, Western Cape, South Africa. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of parental feeding on the growth and energetics of semi-precocial shorebird chicks. Chicks reached mean fledging mass, 463 g, in 40 days. The growth rate coefficient of Afri...

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding inorganic or organic Zn and Cu on the performance and tissue mineral content of chicks. A corn-soybean meal diet without Cu and Zn supplementation, containing 31 mg of Zn/kg of diet and 6.6 mg of Cu/kg of diet, was used as a basal diet. Organic Zn (a chelated Zn proteinate) and organic Cu (a chelated Cu proteinate) were used as organic...

We investigated in the chick whether the diet-induced changes of the hepatic content of cholesteryl esters (CE) influence the synthesis and the secretion of apoB- and apoA-I-containing lipoproteins. Control chicks received a low cholesterol diet for 2 (SD-1), 4 (SD-2), or 7 (SD-3) weeks; the chicks in the experimental groups received a cholesterol-rich diet for 2 weeks and were killed at the en...

I. The influence of the gut microflora on protein utilization has been investigated with a series of goodand poor-quality protein diets in germ-free (GF) and conventional (CV) chicks by the measurement of net protein utilization (NPU) and uric acid excretion. 2. The diets used were: 280 g protein per kg dict containing unheated or hcat-damaged albumen (roo gjkg), casein (80 g/kg) and gelatin (1...

The present study aimed to investigate the responses of broilers with different hatching weights (HW) to dietary methionine (Met). A total of 192 1-d-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks with different HW (heavy: 48·3 (sem 0·1) g and light: 41·7 (sem 0·1) g) were allocated to a 2 (HW) × 2 (Met) factorial arrangement with six replicates of eight chicks. Control starter (1-21 d) and finisher (22-42 d) ...

Variations of breeding success with age have been studied largely in iteroparous species and particularly in birds: survival of offspring increases with parental age until senescence. Nevertheless, these results are from observations of free-living individuals and therefore, it remains impossible to determine whether these variations result from parental investment or efficiency or both, and wh...