Effects of the protracted feeding of copper sulphate-supplemented diets to laying, domestic fowl on egg production and on specific tissues, with special reference to mineral content

Abstract

I . Two experiments are reported. In both experiments a cereal-based diet containing 5 mg copper/kg was fed to two breeds of laying hens for 336 d. In Expt I four other groups were given this diet with the addition of CuSO,. 5H,O to give added levels of ZOO, 400, 600 and 800 mg Cu/kg diet. In Expt 2 the levels of added dietary Cu used were IOO, zoo, 300 and 400 mg/kg.2. In Expt I records were kept of food intake, water intake, body-weight and egg production for eight 28 d periods and body-weight and egg number only were recorded for the full twelve periods. In Expt 2 full records, excluding water intake, were taken for all twelve periods.3. Food and water intake showed a quadratic response to level of added dietary Cu, being enhanced at lower levels and depressed at higher levels of addition.4. There was a quadratic response of total egg weight, mean egg weight and egg number to added dietary Cu. In Expt I egg number was maximum at 235 mg added Cu/kg diet for Warren Studler SSL (breed I ) and at 170 mg added Cu/kg diet for Shaver 288 (breed 2). In Expt 2 no breed effect occurred, the maximum egg number being calculated to occur at 176 mg added Cu/kg diet.5. Depression of body-weight gain occurred at high levels of Cu addition. The depression of liver and oviduct weight found at high levels of addition appeared to be directly related to body-weight. A marked amount of feather loss also occurred at a high inclusion of CuSO, in the diet.6. The reproductive systems of the hens did not appear to be adversely affected at the levels of additive used. Gross and microscopic examination of specific tissues revealed no pathological effects although gizzard and intestinal weights were increased and caecal weight decreased by high levels of added Cu. Those aspects of the blood chemistry examined did not reveal any consistent effect between the two experiments.7. The liver Cu analyses indicate that between 600 and 800 mg added Cu/kg diet the liver Cu concentration rises sharply. Both liver Fe and Zn concentrations showed a positive linear response to added dietary Cu. In the kidney Cu and Zn concentrations were increased but only to a limited extent, while the concentration of Fe was unaffected.The effects of adding copper compounds to the diet of the fowl have been briefly reviewed (Jackson, 1977). The growth and food conversion responses of adding Cu compounds to the diet of the growing bird have been statistically analysed (Fisher et al. 1971 ;Fisher, 1973). Th: ir results indicated a quadratic response of body-weight gain and food conversion efficiency to added dietary Cu. This was clearly defined at higher levels due to growth depression, but the positive response at lower levels (up to 300 mg Cu/kg diet) was considered to be real. There was a maximum growth stimulation at approximately 170 mg Cu/kg diet and a maximum food conversion at 140 mg/kg. In the broiler, Janssen ( There have been few studies on the effect of added Cu as salts or oxides in the diet of the laying hen. In a recent study (Jackson, 1977) Cu, as sul...

Effects of withdrawal of copper sulphate from the diet of the mature domestic fowl with special reference to production and tissue mineral content

“…The total Zn content increased by 21 yo over this period this being a reflection of the large increase in liver weight. The increases in liver Fe concentration and total Fe as a result of Cu supplementation are in agreement with previous findings from this laboratory (Jackson et al 1979;Stevenson & Jackson, 1980). The reduction in liver Fe on withdrawal of the dietary Cu appeared to be directly related to the reduction in liver Cu.…”

“…The lack of effect of high levels of dietary Cu on kidney fresh weight per unit body-weight can be taken as a further indicator of the ability of the domestic fowl to adapt to a high Cu intake. The significant reductions in liver, oviduct and ovary fresh weights, expressed as g/kg body-weight, in response to Cu supplementation (Table 3), were to be expected since similar results have previously been reported (Jackson, 1977;Jackson et al 1979;Stevenson & Jackson, 1980). The interesting novel information shown by the present work is the rapid restoration of the weights of these tissues to near control values and the accompanying return to normal function of the reproductive system as assessed by egg production.…”

“…The lack of effect of Cu supplementation on kidney Cu in the present work and the relatively small effect noted previously (Jackson et al 1979;Stevenson & Jackson, 1980) indicates that the kidney is not significantly involved in Cu storage or excretion.…”

“…The increases in the concentration and total Cu content of the livers of birds given Cusupplemented diets were expected in the light of previous results (Jackson, 1977;Jackson et al 1979;Stevenson & Jackson, 1980). A most interesting aspect of the present work was the rapidity with which Cu was eliminated from the liver when the birds were given control diets.…”

Monitoring of heavy metal burden in mute swan (Cygnus olor)

“…It has a significant role in haemoglobin formation, enzymatic processes, energy metabolism, antioxidant defence system, maturation, growth, etc. (Harms and Buresh 1987;Pesti and Bakalli 1996;Underwood and Suttle 1999;Linder 2002), but longterm uptake of it can lead to toxicological alterations in birds with a dose of 250-1000 mg Cu/kg feed (Jackson et al, 1979;Jackson and Stevenson, 1981;Chiou et al 1999). Different concentrations of copper were determined in other researches in Lake Burullus in P. pectinatus 10.2, 9.1 and 8.3 mg/kg (Nafea and Zyada 2015) and from River Danube P. pectinatus 6.24±2.99 mg/kg and in P. perfoliatus 13.14±4.87 mg/kg (Matache et al 2013).…”