Serological Studies on Egg Production in the Fowl

Abstract

ANUMBER of researchers have demonstrated by chemical means that the amounts of calcium, phosphorus, protein and various other components in the sera of laying hens and estrogenized immature males and females differ distinctly from those in non-laying hens and immature pullets. Lawrence and Riddle (1916) found that the plasma of female fowls is richer in alcohol-soluble material and phosphorus than is the plasma of the male, that the blood plasma of sexually functioning female fowls contains more alcohol-soluble material and more phosphorus than does the plasma of fowls with temporarily inactive ovaries. They reported that the males, the non-laying females and the actively laying fowl differ in the phosphorus content of the blood plasma. Sturkie and Newman (1951) stated that addition of dienestrol diacetate to the ration of the fowl increased the plasma proteins. Brandt et al. (1951) and Clegg et al. (1952) have demonstrated that the serum proteins of …