Embryo and hatchling survival diminish as turkey breeder hens age. Recent data indicated that a chelated calcium proteinate (CCP) additive given to turkey breeder hens improved embryo survival as hens aged but did not affect shell thickness. We hypothesized that the mechanism by which this occurred may be by improved functional shell quality and its consequent effect on cardiac physiology. To t...

Gossypol, a natural component of cottonseed meal, exists in positive (+) or negative (-) enantiomeric forms, and their levels and ratio could be altered by developing new genetic strains of cotton. Two experiments were conducted to determine the relative toxicity of the individual gossypol enantiomers in laying and broiler breeder hens. In the first experiment, 25 individually caged Hy-Line W-3...

Past research on feed restriction methods with turkey breeder hens has involved the feeding of 1) high-fiber or low-energy diets, 2) low dietary protein, 3) limited quantities of feed, 4) rations on a skip-a-day program, 5) distasteful compounds, or 6) combinations of these methods. In general, feed-restricted turkey breeder hens showed a reduction in BW and a delay in sexual maturity at time o...

Published data on 4-week-long administration of exogenous thyroxine in broiler breeder hens to decline the cold-induced ascites in their progeny suggest that the long-term maternal hyperthyroidism would affect egg quality characteristics traits in Cobb 500 broiler breeder hens. Seventy 47-w-old broiler breeder Cobb 500 hens (5 replicates and 7 hens each) were assigned in separate cages and allo...

The effects of environmental temperature (ET) and dietary ME on core body temperature (CBT) and production efficiency were evaluated in broiler breeder hens. A total of 192 Ross 708 broiler breeder hens were individually caged in one of 6 temperature-controlled chambers (32/room) at 20 wk of age. A biotelemetry sensor was surgically implanted abdominally to measure CBT of 8 birds/tmt every 10 m...

Two trials were conducted each using 240 Chinese Ringneck pheasant breeder hens (Phasianus colchicus torquatus) to determine the economics of feeding various levels of Brewers Dried Grains (BDG) on egg production, fertility, hatchability, and feed consumption. Four treatment diets containing 0, 15, 30, and 45% BDG were fed to 3 replicate pens each, beginning 1 week prior to the onset of lay. Eg...

Campylobacter and Salmonella are known to cause acute bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. Raw poultry products have been implicated as a significant source of these infections. Five trials were conducted to determine whether Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. exist naturally in the mature and immature ovarian follicles of late-life broiler breeder hens. Broiler breeder hens ranging from 60 to 6...

Campylobacter coli is an important species involved in human cases of enteritis, and chickens are carriers of the pathogen mainly in developing country. The current study aimed to evaluate the transmission of C. coli and its pathogenic effects in chicken embryos. Breeder hens were inoculated intra-esophageally with C. coli isolated from chickens, and their eggs and embryos were analyzed for the...