Corrigenda inserted behind title page. / Bibliography: leaves 275-306. / xxxv, 306 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / The pattern of body growth and intestinal development of an Australian strain of broiler chicken, the Steggles x Ross (F1) in response to different diets was studied. Five experiments were designed to examine the pattern of growth and mechanisms involved. In four other experiments, the mechanisms underlying the gross response of the broiler chicks to dietary ingredients, anti-nutritive factors and growth enhancers were examined. Results indicated that a rapid development of the small intestine preceded significant overall body growth. Body growth would, however, depend more on the various physiological events such as those related to mucosal growth and renewal, digestive enzyme function, and nutrient transport. Some of the differences observed in productivity of broiler chickens on different diets were traced to events at the intestinal level. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Animal Sciences, 1999

No description available.

This study was conducted to examine the potential of plastic slats as flooring material for maintenance of broiler breeders. Although plastic slats are more expensive than wood slats, plastic slats are more durable and easier to clean. Wood and plastic slats were tested as full and partial flooring to determine the ideal proportion of slats for broiler breeder floors. Space allotment was 2040 cm²/bird on all floor treatments. . Arbor Acres broiler breeders, one of the more common strains in British Columbia, were raised to 58 weeks of age to monitor the influence of slat material and slat coverage on egg production and progeny growth over one production cycle. Since the pens were not set up to determine the number of eggs lost through slats, "egg production" values were actually egg recovery values. Over-all egg recovery was significantly higher on partial wood (PWS) and partial plastic slats (PPS) than on either of the full slat treatments. Breeders on full wood slats (FWS) had higher over-all egg production than those on full plastic slats (FPS). Differences were significant for three biweekly periods, but slats did not influence the over-all incidence of floor eggs and cracked floor eggs. The incidence of cracked nest eggs was significantly higher in FWS and FPS than in PWS and PPS pens during four lay periods and overall. The proportion of non-cracked nest eggs, which was taken as an approximation of the proportion of settable eggs, was higher for partial slat pens than full slat pens, and FWS pens had a higher proportion of non-cracked nest eggs than FPS pens. To monitor fertility and hatchability, eggs were incubated at 37, 42, 46, 50 and 56 weeks of breeder age. Fertility, hatchability of total eggs set and hatchability of fertile eggs was not affected by type of slats. Progeny from the hatch at 37, 46 and 56 week of breeder age were grown in Petersime battery cages to three weeks of age. The progeny of breeders on FPS had lower first week weight gain than the other progeny groups due to moisture loss when 7 FPS progeny were lost during the second growth trial. Weekly and over-all feed conversion of progeny was not affected by types of slats used by parents. The 56th week progeny were grown in Petersime battery cages to market age (six weeks). PWS and FPS progeny had higher third week weight gain than PPS progeny. During the sixth week, FWS and PWS progeny had higher weight gain than FPS and PPS progeny. The sixth week feed conversion of FPS progeny was higher than that of the other three progeny groups. No other differences were seen. As long as slats were used as partial flooring, there were no differences in egg production on wood or plastic slats. The proportion of "settable" eggs, fertility, and hatchability of eggs of plastic slat breeders were comparable with that of wood slat breeders regardless of slat coverage. There were significant differences in the 3-week growth of 37th, 46th and 56th week progeny and the 6-week growth of 56th week progeny on the different slat types, but the differences were not due to slat treatments. There was no interaction between breeder age and slat material, therefore the influence of slat material on egg production and progeny growth did not vary with breeder age. Although egg recovery and the number of settable eggs were lower for FPS breeders, breeders on plastic slats performed as well as those on wood slats in the present study. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Seven experiments were carried out to investigate the involvement of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism on the incidence of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in broiler chickens. Hepatic arachidonate level decreased after 1 h postmortem. The decreased level of hepatic arachidonate previously observed in SDS birds was, therefore, associated with the post-mortem aging. Broiler chickens fed diets high in glucose monohydrate (cerelose) were more susceptible to SDS mortality than broilers fed diets high in corn starch or corn-soy. Feeding broilers a high cerelose diet increased the levels of plasma calcium, total protein, triacylglycerol, and uric acid compared to broilers fed corn starch diet. Broilers fed cerelose diet also showed the higher incidence of leg abnormality than broilers fed corn starch or corn-soy diets. Daily intraperitoneal injection with 0.25 ml of L(+) lactic acid solution (100 mg lactic acid/ml) to broilers over a 7-d period failed to reproduce the SDS incidence, whereas intravenous injection of 40% lactic acid solution (200 mg lactic acid/kg body weight) resulted in 100% incidence of SDS-type mortality. No SDS-type mortality was observed with the intravenous injection of 40% sodium lactate solution (200 mg sodium lactate/kg body weight). Disturbance of physiological acid-base balance might be a factor in the SDS-type mortality. Suboptimal thiamin level in broilers fed cerelose diets was observed. Thiamin supplementation to cerelose diet improved the thiamin status of the broilers. Mortality due to SDS was decreased when thiamin hydrochloride was supplemented to cerelose diet at the level of 0.6 and 2.8 mg thiamin hydrochloride/kg diet, respectively. Thiamin supplementation, however, did not change the liver pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and the proportion of pyruvate dehydrogenase in the active form. Disturbance of acid-base balance was postulated to be associated with the incidence of SDS. Other genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors are likely to modify the incidence by affecting the acid-base status of the chicken. / Graduation date: 1993

The objectives in these four experiments were to observe the effectiveness of sodium bisulfate and clinoptilolite and different methods of application of sodium bisulfate, ferrous sulfate heptahydrate and Micro Aide® on atmospheric ammonia level in the broiler house and on broiler performance. The first experiment was conducted to determine the optimum effective level of the litter application of sodium bisulfate. Atmospheric ammonia at 4 weeks and litter moisture at 3 weeks treated-pens were significantly lower in sodium bisulfate (488 g/m²) than in the untreated control pens. However, broiler performance was not significantly affected with any treatment. Litter application of sodium bisulfate at 244 g/m² and 488 g/m² were comparable and better than the 122 g/m² and untreated control. In Experiments 2 and 3 comparisons of litter chemical treatments of liquid Micro Aid® (8.75 ml/L H₂O) applied at 0, 2, 4,and 6 weeks; granular Micro Aid® (0.5 mg/g of feed) fed continuously throughout the experiment, and litter application of ferrous sulfate (732 g/m²); clinoptilolite (2443 g/m²), sodium bisulfate (244 g/m²) and ferrous sulfate (732 g/m²) were made for 7 week periods. Ferrous sulfate-treated pens (732 g/m²) had significantly lower litter pH at 2, 4 and 6 weeks than untreated control and significantly lower atmospheric ammonia levels at 3 and 6 weeks than the clinoptilolite (2443 g/m²), sodium bisulfate (244 g/m²) and untreated control in the other experiment. In the fourth experiment, sodium bisulfate was applied twice (244 g/m²/application) at 0 and 4 weeks, sodium bisulfate applied once (488 g/m²) and ferrous sulfate applied once (732 g/m²) prior to the experiment. At 4 weeks mean body weights and feed conversion were significantly better with one sodium bisulfate application than the untreated control. At 7 weeks feed conversion (P<0.08) and male body weights (P<0.1) were slightly better in one sodium bisulfate application than in the untreated control while mortality was significantly lower in the untreated control pens. Most mortality occurred after 4 weeks and were due primarily to Sudden Death Syndrome. Atmospheric ammonia levels at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, weeks and litter pH levels at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks were significantly lower in pens with one application of sodium bisulfate than in pens untreated. Litter application of sodium bisulfate once (488 g/m²) seemed to be the best litter treatment in reducing atmospheric ammonia. / Graduation date: 1991

Most of the feed required for poultry production in the Republic of Yemen is imported from Europe. Sometimes, feed shipments arrive later due to lack of hard currencies to pay for the feed or to pay the freight charges. Yemeni broiler producers in such cases feed their birds a single feed ingredient or a mixture of ingredients until feed arrives. Five experiments were conducted to simulate feed shortage situations. As a single ingredient, barley is the grain of choice in case of feed shortages. When broilers were switched to corn-soy after the single ingredient diets, the compensatory growth was correlated with the severity of reduced growth. Feeding diets with a mixture of faba beans + sorghum grain with or without 7% herring meal for 21 and 49 days, respectively, reduced significantly (P<.05) mean body weight, total feed consumed, feed efficiency and apparent protein efficiency ratio. Feeding wheat bran at 10-15% with adjustment for protein and energy from day-old to 49 days of age resulted in significantly (P<.05) improved mean body weights compared to the control broilers. Increasing wheat bran levels further gradually reduced body weight and feed consumption. Abdominal fat increased significantly (P<.05) when wheat bran inclusion exceeded 20 percent. Cellulase supplementation did not show any significant interaction with wheat bran in all the measured parameters. Supplementing protease to wheat bran diets significantly (P<.05) reduced mean body weight, feed consumption and the feed conversion in broilers. These dramatic effects were proportionally ameliorated by increasing the levels of wheat bran. / Graduation date: 1991

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2001. / Includes tables. Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 23, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science. Degree awarded 2001; thesis submitted 2000. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 101 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

The objective of this work was to define the effects of dietary energy intake on broiler fat deposition and metabolism. Fatty broilers are one of the major problems in the broiler industry. The effects of changing calorie to protein (Cal/Pr) ratios, and the addition of cellulose or dried distiller's byproduct (DDBP) in the diet, on abdominal fat deposition, liver lipogenesis and glucose oxidation and broiler performance indicated that the mean body weight of broilers fed narrower Cal/Pr ratio diets (124 and 143 for starter and grower, respectively) were lower (P<.01) than broilers fed diets with mid-Cal/Pr ratios (138 and 160) and wide Cal/Pr ratios (147 and 171). Feed conversion was better (P<.01) for broilers fed the diet with wide Cal/Pr ratio than the broilers fed the diet with narrow Cal/Pr ratio. Abdominal fat deposition increased (P<.001) with wide Cal/Pr ratio than narrow Cal/Pr ratio. No significant differences were found in in vitro liver lipogenesis and glucose oxidation when Cal/Pr ratio was widened. Mean body weight, feed conversion and abdominal fat levels of broilers fed 5% cellulose or 10% DDBP diets were not different when compared to broilers fed diets with the same Cal/Pr ratio without these two feed ingredients. The time-course of the deposition of abdominal fat fitted a negative exponential growth curve. The data also indicated that the highest potential for abdominal fat deposition was during the first two weeks of age. When the feed intakes of broilers were restricted for a 6 day period beginning at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age, the feed efficiencies of all the restricted broilers were significantly improved compared with broilers fed ad libitum. No significant differences were observed in mean body weight between the different treatments. The percentage of abdominal fat in broilers restricted-fed starting either at 1 or 2 weeks old for a 6-day period were lower (P<.05) than broilers fed ad libitum. Feed restriction from days 7 to 12 reduced the adipocyte size but not the number. Feed restriction decreased (P<.05) lipogenesis at 2 and 8 weeks of age. No significant effects were found in lipolysis between the restricted and ad libitum-fed broilers. These studies demonstrate that early feed restriction (days 7 to 12) reduced abdominal fat deposition which is attributed to the reduction in the adipocyte size. Smaller size adipocyte resulted from decreased activity of lipogenesis. / Graduation date: 1991