Project Number: 6406-32000-010-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Apr 11, 2006
End Date: Feb 28, 2007

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to determine the reproductive organ characteristics, blood composition, and subsequent eggshell microstructural characteristics in Mycoplasma gallisepticum-vaccinated egg-laying chickens fed various dietary supplements.

Approach:
Chickens will be monitored to determine the effects of MG infections and diets on various reproductive organ, blood, and eggshell properties, including the eggshell's microstructure. Light and scanning electron microscopes with digital imaging systems will be used to measure eggshell parameters such as total shell thickness, mammillary cone thickness, and columnar region thickness. Digital micrographs will also be taken to assess shell structural features including radial shell sections, shell membranes, and mammillary cones. The effects of diet supplements (poultry fat, phytase, vitamin D3) on MG-inoculated birds will be studied in several consecutive trials.