Topical application of garlic reduces northern fowl mite infestation in laying hens.

Northern fowl mites (NFM) are external parasites that can lower egg production and cause anemia and even death in laying hens. An experiment was conducted with New Hampshire Red and Single Comb White Leghorn laying hens. Hens were individually caged and provided a complete laying diet and water ad libitum.

The effect of in vitro heat stress on the uptake of neutral red by chicken thrombocytes.

Thrombocytes are multifunctional, nucleated blood cells. Morphological changes in thrombocytes have been used as a physiological indicator of a stress response. This study investigated the effects of in vitro heat stress (HS) on the neutral red uptake activity of chicken thrombocytes.

Expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and the EGF receptor in the porcine oviduct.

The production, secretion, and localization of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and the distribution of the EGF receptor (EGF-R) were examined in the isthmus (I) and ampulla (A) of the oviducts from cyclic (C) and early-pregnant (P) gilts. Sexually mature gilts (n = 20) were divided equally into two groups: C and P. P gilts were bred twice (at 0 and 24 h), and all gilts were killed 48 h after onset of estrus.

Effect of ergovaline, loline, and dopamine antagonists on rat pituitary cell prolactin release in vitro.

Cultured rat pituitary cells were studied to: determine the effects of ergovaline and loline on in vitro prolactin release; delineate the agonistic activity of these alkaloids at the D2 dopamine receptor, using 2 selective D2 dopamine receptor antagonists; and compare the efficacy of 2 dopamine receptor antagonists in reversing effects of the treatments on in vitro prolactin secretion. Ergovaline reduced in vitro prolactin release by at least 40% (P < 0.05) at concentrations of 10(-4), 10(-6), and 10(-8) M.

The effects of cooling large white turkey embryos on growth and white blood cell development.

In each of two experiments, trays containing 15 developing turkey eggs were cooled for 1 h at 18 C on a specific day of incubation or left within the incubator (controls). Ten embryos from each treatment were bled on Day 23 of incubation, at which time all embryos were killed with CO2 gas, weighed, and sexed. Packed cell volumes and differential white blood cell (WBC) counts were performed on all blood samples.