Method for collecting semen from the ostrich (Struthio camelus) and some of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics.

1. Four methods of semen collecting that involved interruption of mating in two breeding ostrich pairs were tested: an artificial vagina was tested without promising results; the funnel method, in which a funnel was placed under the phallus of the tested male immediately after mating allowing semen drips to be collected; the vacuum method, using a turkey semen collector, inserted into the seminal canal; and the tube method, conducted by placing a test tube inside the seminal canal, allowing semen to enter by gravity. 2.

Glucocorticoid administration during incubation: embryo mortality and posthatch growth in chickens.

The effects of glucocorticoids (GC) on embryonic mortality and posthatch BW were studied. Cortisol hemisuccinate or corticosterone in 0.1-mL vehicles were injected into the albumen of 7-d-old White Leghorn chicken embryos.

The relationship between neural alterations and behavioral deficits after prenatal exposure to heroin.

The present studies employ multitudinous approaches in order to overcome the methodological obstacles in the understanding of the relationship between neurochemical alterations and behavioral deficits induced by heroin during prenatal development. Mice were exposed prenatally to heroin via daily subcutaneous injections of 10 mg/kg, on gestation days 9-18. At age 50 days, the heroin-exposed offspring displayed behavioral deficits as assessed in the eight-arm and Morris mazes, pointing to possible alteration in the septohippocampal cholinergic innervations.

Short-term stress increases testosterone secretion from testes in male domestic fowl.

Prolonged stress inhibits the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and reduces plasma testosterone (T). However, enhanced secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and T has been documented during the initial stages of acute stress in mammals. This study assayed the effect of short-term stress on plasma T and corticosterone (B) in juvenile, pubertal, and adult White Leghorn cockerels.

The effect of pyrazine odor on body weight and the weight of various organs in chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus).

Embryonic and posthatch long-term exposure to the odor of 2-methoxy-3-isobutyl-pyrazine (2M3IP) was examined for its potential physiological consequences as reflected in changes in BW and organ weights in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Experiments were run from Day 1 of incubation to the age of 3 wk with a total of 360 fertile chicken eggs. The experimental design consisted of four treatment groups: PP chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during both incubation and posthatch rearing; PC chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during incubation only; CP chicks were exposed to 2M3IP during rearing period only; CC control chicks were not exposed to 2M3IP.