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Biomedical subjects

B L Hughes

Publications and source records attributed to B L Hughes.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Bone fragility in broilers as affected by pen height, sex, and a comparison of left and right humeri.

Humeri and tibiotarsi breaking strengths were determined for broilers raised in pens of varying heights. Five hundred forty-four broilers were reared in conventional floor pens or wire cages on the floor with overhead restrictions of 20, 30, 40, or 60 cm. No significant differences were noted on growth, feed conversion or tibiotarsi breaking strength. Height-restricted broilers had significantly weaker humeri than did the controls. A significant linear relationship (P less than .05) was noted in height-restricted broilers in that as pen height increased so did humeri strength. Further studies were conducted to test for significant differences between male and female humeri strength and between right and left humeri on the same bird. Forty-six pairs of female and male humeri were obtained, tagged for identity, and broken on the Instron Model 1122. Males had significantly stronger humeri than females and right humeri were significantly stronger than left humeri in both sexes.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Ultrastructure of the guinea fowl (Numidia meleagris) spermatozoon.

The ultrastructure of guinea spermatozoa was characterized by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The average lengths and widths (measured at the widest points) of the segments were as follows: acrosome, 1.8 x .47 mu; nucleus, 12.8 x .49 mu; midpiece, 3.9 x .59 mu; flagellum, 59 x .52 mu. Thus, the guinea sperm cell is slightly smaller than the chicken or turkey spermatozoon. The ultrastructure of the guinea spermatozoon was similar to that of the chicken and turkey with two exceptions: 1) the mitochondria had cristae aligned parallel and oblique with respect to the outer limiting membrane and 2) there was no proximal centriole, the distal centriole projected into the implantation fossa with "arms" of the nonstriating connecting piece extending laterally from the centriole to the implantation fossa.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Seminal plasma free amino acids and seminal and blood plasma proteins of the guinea fowl (Numidia meleagris).

Glutamic acid was the major free amino acid in guinea seminal plasma, representing 90.00% of the total amino acids. Threonine comprised 3.74%, aspartic acid 3.23%, and serine 1.50%. Others were detected at less than .50% of the total free amino acids. Blood plasma protein concentration and SE were 2.68 +/- .35 g/100 ml, and the proteins were fractionated by disc acrylamide electrophoresis into seven major bands: albumin, alpha-1, a dense beta fraction, and four postbeta, or gamma, proteins. Seminal plasma protein concentration and SE were .45 +/- .03 g/100 ml, and the proteins separated into nine fractions: albumin, alpha-1 and -2, beta-1, -2, and -3, and three postbeta, or gamma, bands.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1982

The effects of red and white light during the prebreeder and breeder periods on egg production and feed consumption in Large White turkey.

Large White turkey hens were conditioned with 5 lx of white or red incandescent light from 20 to 32 weeks of age. Hens from both of these groups were given white or red incandescent light at two intensities (approximately 85 and 160 lx) during a 20-week breeder period. Feed consumption was greatest for hens no white light during the prebreeder period (P less than or equal to .01), but hens on red light consumed the greatest amount of feed during the breeder period. The only consistent finding concerning egg production was the hens exposed to high intensity (160 lx) white light, regardless of whether the prebreeder light was white or red, had the poorest egg production (P less than or equal to .01). It is concluded that red light during the prebreeder or breeder periods is not beneficial for egg production over that achieved with low intensity white incandescent light, and that bright white incandescent light is deleterious to egg production.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The effect of reverse protein and low protein feeding regimens in the rearing period on pullet growth, subsequent performance, and liver and abdominal fat at end of lay.

Four brown egg strains were used to study the effect of rearing diets on growth and performance. The treatments were arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial with two replicates of 45 birds. The control diet was formulated and fed to National Research Council recommendations. Birds on reverse protein (RP) were fed diets with 13, 16, and 19% protein and those on low protein (LP) regimen received a 13.5% protein diet with amino acids adjusted on a megacalorie basis to approximate the control diet. At 20 weeks of age pullets were caged and fed a standard layer diet. Logistic curves were fitted to the growth data by a nonlinear least squares method and the parameters of each curve analyzed. No significant strain x diet interactions were observed. There were significant differences among strains in weight gain and feed intake. Dietary regimens had no significant effect on total gain and feed intake. However, diets significantly altered age at one-half maximum growth or inflection point (alpha) and mean growth rate (rho). Inflection point of the growth curve was significantly delayed in birds fed RP and LP diets. Although apparent conversion was not affected by diets, the partition coefficients at any time (t) for maintenance (beta mt) and gain (beta gt) were altered. Neither strain nor dietary regimens affected abdominal fat or organ weights at the end of the rearing period. No significant effect of rearing dietary regimens was detected in age at 50% production or peak production, feed conversion, feed intake, livability, liver fat, abdominal fat, or shell strength. The reverse-protein regimen significantly depressed egg weight. The results of the study indicate that 1) the rearing dietary regimens were adequate for strains of different body weight and egg output characteristics; 2) dietary alteration of growth curve parameters failed to influence production, feed intake, mortality, shell strength, livability, liver fat, or abdominal fat during the production period.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1981

An evaluation of gelatin as a diluent component for storage of chicken semen.

This study was conducted using a gelatin-Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender (BPSE) mixture to determine whether or not gelatin aids in the preservation of chicken semen stored at temperatures of 4 to 12 C. Two experiments were conducted designed to determine 1) the optimum gelatin-extender ratio and 2) the optimum in vitro conditions (storage temperature, semen-gas ratio, stopper type, holding temperature, and semen-diluent ratio) for BPSE only and for the best gelatin-BPSE mixture as determined in Experiment 1. Varying the gelatin concentration in BPSE from 15 mg/ml to 30 mg/ml had no significant effect upon either fertility or hatchability. Varying the storage temperature, semen-air ratio, or stopper type had no significant effect upon fertility regardless of the presence or absence of gelatin. However, a significant interaction was noted between the stopper type and the diluent. Cooling semen diluted 1:1 with BPSE at a rate of 1 C/min to 10 C prior to storage and then transporting the post-stored semen at 10 C had a detrimental effect on fertility. Increasing the dilution rate above 1:2 had a significant negative effect upon fertility, with a significant interaction noted between the diluent and the semen-diluent ratio. When comparing BPSE only against the BPSE-gelatin mixture (30 mg/ml), the BPSE-gelatin mixture yielded significantly lower fertility in most instances and had no significant augmenting effect on fertility in those instances where it was not harmful. Therefore, under the in vitro conditions provided in this study, gelatin, in conjunction with BPSE, served no potentiating function in enhancement of fertility of stored chicken semen.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Effect of male to female ratios on reproduction of caged coturnix D1 breeders.

Two separate trials were conduced with Coturnix quail (D1 strain) to determine the effect of sex ratios on reproductive efficiency over five 28-day periods. Periods 1 to 3, 1 to 4, and 1 to 5 were analyzed for treatments which housed one male with either one, two, or three females to determine which ratio was the most efficient for a given period of time and for continued efficiency throughout the period analyzed. Results indicated that increasing the sex ratio up to one male to three females per cage had no significant detrimental effect on reproductive parameters and resulted in greater overall efficiency.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Effects of ambient temperature on sexual maturity in chickens.

Ninety-six, 14-day-old Single Comb White Leghorns (48 males and 48 females) in each of two trials were divided into three groups and grown thereafter under one of the ambient temperatures of 21, 29, or 35 C. Age at sexual maturity of males was decreased in both trials as temperature was increased. First semen was produced at 54 and and 56 days of age in Trials 1 and 2, respectively, when the ambient temperature was 35 C and 68 and 63 days at 21 C for Trials 1 and 2, respectively. Sexual maturity of females was significantly delayed at the highest ambient temperature. Semen quality was only slightly affected by the highest ambient temperature. Although egg production was seriously affected at 35 C, fertility and hatchability, except in a few instances, were only mildly affected.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Effect of cholera preventative treatments on reproductive performance of turkey hens.

Turkey hens were treated with either the Clemson University (CU) strain of P. multocida, chlortetracycline, bacterin, or no cholera preventative treatment during the growing period. This was followed by CU vaccination during the production period in all except an untreated control group and resulted in no significant differences (P less than 0.05) in egg production, egg weight, fertility, hatchability, body weight, or feed consumption. Best liveability after post-production challenge with P-1059 strain of P. multocida was 92% for those treated with CU vaccine in both the grower and production periods. Hens receiving no cholera preventative treatment had only 8% liveability. These data indicate no adverse effect from treating turkey hens with CU vaccine during the production period.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Use of tylosin to prevent early mortality in bobwhite quail.

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of treating day-old quail by drenching either with a soluble tylosin, tartrate solution or plain water, or medicating for five days with tylosin in the drinking water. Diagnosis of dead birds indicated ulcerative enteritis infection. Quail drenched with plain water or tylosine had less (P less than .01) mortality than those given tylosin in the drinking water or the untreated control birds. There was no difference between quail drenched with plain water or tylosin. Birds given tylosin in the drinking water resisted mortality significantly better (P less than .01) than the control birds.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Safety evaluation of gentian violet for breeder chickens.

Four treatment levels (1.0, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 x the recommended use level) of a gentian violet premix (Dye-Gen) were compared with non-medicated controls for breeder chickens during a 168-day study. There were no treatment effects up to and including 10 x the recommended use level on: average daily feed consumption, feed/dozen eggs, hatchability of fertile eggs, or mortality. Fertility was higher for the birds receiving 2.5 x the recommended use level than for the non-medicated controls. Egg production was higher (P less than .05) for the non-medicated controls and 10x groups than for the birds receiving the gentian violet premix at 2.5 x the recommended use level. Semen of breeder males was observed for % abnormal sperm, % dead sperm, % motility, vigor, and semen volume. There was no treatment effect on any of the semen characteristics evaluated. It can be concluded from these data that the gentian violet premix is safe for breeder chickens under the conditions of this study.

Animals↗