This study evaluated the effects of an antibiotic (oxytetracycline HCL) on reproductive performance of turkey breeder hens. The antibiotic was administered in 1) drinking water or 2) drinking water and intravaginal infusion. Hens were assigned to fertility subclasses (low 0-70%, medium 71-90%, high 91-100%) based on performance from the 7th to 10th week of production. Hens receiving antibiotic in drinking water showed significantly higher apparent fertility than untreated controls, but had significantly higher early embryonic mortality than hens receiving antibiotic in water plus intravaginal infusion.
In order to determine the duration of the effect of antibiotic treatment on the variables under study, the eggs were divided into two periods; one containing eggs laid during treatment periods and one week following treatment periods, and the second containing eggs laid two to four weeks post-treatment. The antibiotic in drinking water significantly improved hatchability during the treatment period. The antibiotic in drinking water plus intravaginal infusion had its greatest effect in reducing early embryonic mortality. This treatment had a longer term effect holding embryonic mortality below 10% during treatment and post-treatment periods, while a shorter term effect was observed when antibiotic was administered only in drinking water. In the latter case early embryonic mortality increased significantly during the post-treatment period compared to the treatment period.
No correlation was found between mycoplasmal or bacterial population and fertility subclass or antibiotic treatment. Hen day and hen housed production, body weight, feed consumption, feed consumed per egg, egg weight and specific gravity were unaffected by antibiotic treatment. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/104525 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Opengart, Kenneth N. |
| Contributors | Poultry Science |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | ix, 104 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 13014671 |
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