A new grain, Triticale, (a synthesized hexaploid species combining the genomes of Triticum durum and Secale cereale) was tested as the principal ingredient in a chick starter ration. On a pound-for-pound basis Triticale was approximately equal to hard spring wheat in nutritive value for chicks as judged by growth, efficiency of feed utilization and ration metabohzable energy. Supplementation of a 17.5 per cent protein, Triticale ration with glycine, DL-methionine and/or L-lysine showed lysine to be the most limiting amino acid for chicks. A similar study with a 21 per cent protein ration showed that both L-lysine and DL-methionine were limiting for chick growth. The results bring to the fore the potential importance of new, synthesized plant species to animal production and, simultaneously, present an evaluation of a grain from one of these new species as a feed ingredient for chickens.

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The levels of cellular components in each region of the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) oviduct at various stages of a reproductive cycle (developing, laying, and regressing) were compared. There were differential growth patterns in each region of the oviduct (infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, uterus, and vagina) during a reproductive cycle. The magnum weight, relative to other regions of the oviduct, increased most rapidly during development and growth, and decreased in a similar manner during regression of the oviduct. Development and growth of the oviduct were primarily associated with hyperplasia (increase in total DNA), and to a lesser extent with cellular hypertrophy (dry matter/DNA). Regression of the oviduct was essentially a reversal of the developing oviduct: both total DNA and ratios of dry matter/DNA decreased.The highest ratios of RNA/DNA and protein/DNA were found in the laying-hen oviduct, particularly in the magnum and isthmus. The magnum and isthmus of the laying hen, being actively involved with the formation of secretory soluble and insoluble proteins, respectively, also had the highest respective ratios of soluble protein/DNA and insoluble protein/DNA. The infundibulum, uterus, and vagina, consisting mainly of connective tissue and musculature, are not actively involved in the formation of secretory proteins. These regions of the laying-hen oviduct had low ratios of RNA/DNA and protein/DNA. All regions of the functionally quiescent developing and regressing oviducts had similar and low ratios of RNA/DNA and protein/DNA.The levels of soluble nonprotein nitrogen, when expressed on a cell unit basis, also tended to parallel those of protein while lipid levels remained relatively constant for all regions of the oviduct throughout the various stages of the reproductive cycle.