C. R. Creger

The effect of processing on the nutritional value of guar meal for broiler chicks

Synopsis Guar meal contains two factors which are detrimental to the growth rate and food conversion of chicks. One of the factors is the trypsin inhibitor which can be destroyed by cooking the raw guar meal for a period of 1 hr at a temperature of 110° C. with the injection of super‐heated steam for a period of 15 min. after the cooker attains a temperature of 110°C. The second deterimental factor in guar meal is the guar gum which causes a depression in growth and sticky droppings when the total level of the gum in the diet exceeds 1.8 per cent. The usage of heated guar meal in chick diets is apparently limited by the gum content of the meal. Pectinase, an enzyme preparation added to a chick ration which contained 15 per cent processed guar meal, produced an increase in the weight gain of chicks fed the ration over those fed 15 per cent processed guar meal. Hypertrophy of the pancreas resulted in the chicks fed 20 and 30 per cent processed guar meal and in all groups fed raw guar meal.

Trypsin Inhibitor in Guar Meal

Summary The presence of trypsin inhibitor in Guar meal has been demonstrated by the trypsin-hemoglobin digestion procedure. The level of inhibition is concentration dependent. The inhibitor is destroyed by heating and is apparently not dialyzable, which may be indicative of a macromolecular nature.

Gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of lenticular triglycerides. I. Total triglycerides.

Triglycerides from bovine, rabbit and chicken lenses were characterized according to molecular weight by gas-liquid chromatography. The total triglycerides were separated from the other lipid classes by preparative thin layer chromatography with subsequent elution to obtain purified triglycerides. The molecular weight distribution of the triglycerides and their fatty acid composition were then determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Triglycerides of similar molecular weight were observed in all the species investigated, with C48, C50, C52 and C54 triglycerides comprising greater than 85% of the total. These triglycerides consisted primarily of various combinations of C16 : 0, C16 : 1, C18 : 0, C18 : 1 and C18 : 2 fatty acids. Several unidentified peaks were eluted shortly after the solvent front was noted.

Identification of triglycerides in the bovine lens by chromatographic analysis

A combination of chromatographic techniques was used to designate the structural types of triglycerides in bovine lenses. Total lipids were extracted from fresh bovine lenses with subsequent isolation of triglycorides by thin layer chromatography. The purified triglycerides were separated according to unsaturation by silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel G TLC plates. Total triglycerides and individual Ag+TLC fractions then were analyzed quantitatively by gas-liquid chromatography to determine their triglyceride and fatty acid composition. Results obtained by these methods show that bovine lenses contain 45 components, the majority of which are in the 804–890 mol, wt range (carbon numbers 48–54). Triglycerides with two double bonds per molecule predominate (46·6 mole%), while those with 1, 3 or more, and 0 double bonds represent 24·4, 21·0 and 8·0 mole%, respectively. The data from this investigation indicate that dioleo-palmitin (OOP) and palmitoleo-stearo-olein (PoSO) are the most abundant triglycerides in bovine lenses.

Vitamin A requirement for growing turkeys.

Synopsis The vitamin A requirement of Broad Breasted White turkey poults from o to 12 weeks of age is at least 2670 i.u. vitamin A/kg and possibly ranges between 2670 and 4721 i.u. vitamin A/kg. The vitamin A stored in the liver of the turkeys fed 4721 i.u. vitamin A/kg was significantly greater than those fed 1034 to 2670 i.u. vitamin A/kg at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of age. The average weights of the birds at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of age were significantly greater when the diet was supplemented with 4721 i.u. vitamin A/kg.

EFFECTS OF SODIUM ALGINATE ON ABSORPTION AND DEPOSITION OF RADIOACTIVE CATIONS IN THE CHICK.

Summary Data from an investigation of the effects of sodium alginate on the intestinal absorption and skeletal deposition of orally administered Sr89 and Ca45 indicated that sodium alginate was not effective in selectively inhibiting the absorption of Sr89 while permitting Ca43 to proceed unhindered. The skeletal deposition of Sr89 was essentially unchanged, whereas, Ca45 deposition was reduced by increased amounts of dietary sodium alginate. An amount of dietary kelp equivalent to 1% sodium alginate decreased Ca45 deposition, but increased Sr89 deposition.

Enzyme Activities in the Developing Muscle and Liver of Normal and Genetically Dystrophic Chick Embryos

Summary Activities of succinic dehydroge-nase, cytochrome c oxidase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) have been assayed in embryos and day-old chicks from a genetically dystrophic and normal strain of New Hampshire chicks. Results point out possible defects in the cytochrome c oxidase and succinic dehydrogenase systems as the site for the metabolic disturbance in the hereditary muscular dystrophy in chicks.

Distribution of calcium and strontium in the blood of the laying hen.

Summary Serum collected from a hen which had been given 25 μc Sr85 was separated on Sephadex G-25 column and found to contain Sr85 activity only in the non-protein fractions. On the other hand, the serum of a control hen showed the Ca to be present in both protein and non-protein fractions. These data suggest that, unlike Ca, Sr is not bound to proteins in the blood.

The intermittent feeding of anti-bacterial and-or antifungal agents to laying hens.

Synopsis A study was conducted in order to ascertain the effects of feeding large doses of various antibacterial (chlortetracycline, furazolidone, bacitracin) and/or anti‐fungal (nystatin, cupric sulphate) agents to laying hens on an intermittent basis. None of the drugs tested enhanced the performance of the birds when fed singly. However, birds that received a diet intermittently containing a broad‐spectrum antibiotic (110 mg/kg of diet) exhibited a performance superior to that of the control group when the antibacterial treatment was immediately followed by the feeding of a ration containing 55 mg nystatin/kg, during the 7 subsequent days. It is possible that the intermittent, successive feeding of massive amounts of antibacterial and antifungal agents may act synergistically to promote egg production and efficiency of food utilisation. An economic evaluation of the data revealed that, at constant egg production levels, the feeding of chlortetracycline‐supplemented diet (110 mg/kg of diet) for 3 consec...

The determination of Sr89 in biological samples

Abstract A simple and sensitive method for determination of Sr89 has been developed. The method consists of ashing the sample in a muffle furnace, dissolving the ash in a minimum amount of HCl, preparing solid samples on glass fiber disks, and determining the activity by liquid scintillation counting. Counting efficiencies of approximately 65% were obtained. The use of glass fiber disks has reduced the error in pipetting and has eliminated quenching. The procedure has given reproducible results and has been used successfully for quantitative analysis of Sr89 in various tissues, bones and eggs (shell, yolk and albumin) from birds injected intramuscularly with Sr89Cl2. An improved and relatively accurate method for the determination of quenching, based on an internal standard, is also descrived.