1772 RESEARCH NOTES
21.1°C. for the first four weeks in respec-
tive order. The relative humidity may be
either 30 or 60% without harmful effects.
REFERENCES
Barrott, H. G., and E. M. Pringle, 1947. Effect of
environment on growth and feed and water
consumption of chickens. I. The effect of tem-
perature of environment during the first nine
days after hatch. J. Nutrition, 34: 53-58.
Barrott, H. G., and E. M. Pringle, 1948. Effect of
environment on growth and feed and water
consumption of chickens. II. The effect of tem-
perature and humidity of environment during
the first eighteen days after hatch. J. Nutrition,
37: 153-161.
Barrott, H. G., and E. M. Pringle, 1950. Effect of
environment on growth and feed and water
consumption of chickens. III. The effect of tem-
perature of environment during the period from
COMPARISON OF SPROUTED VERSUS NORMAL WHEAT WHEN FED
TO WHITE LEGHORN COCKEREL CHICKS
L. F. FALEN AND C. F. PETERSEN
Department of Poultry Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83843
(Received for publication August 22, 1969)
Current U. S. grade standards discount
wheat in a lot showing more than two per-
cent sprouting. The grade is lowered with
increased sprouting until, at IS percent, the
grain is classified sample grade. Recent
data (Murray and Huber, 1968) indicate
that the chemical composition of sprouted
wheat may not be different from normal
grains. In this experiment sprouted wheat
was compared to normal wheat using meta-
bolizable energy determinations and gain in
body weight of White Leghorn cockerel
chicks as the basis of comparison.
EXPERIMENTAL
Gaines wheat which contained approxi-
mately 60% sprouted kernels was corn-
Published with the approval of the Director of
the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station as Re-
search Paper No. 801.
eighteen to thirty-two days of age. J. Nutri-
tion, 4 1 : 25-30.
Siegel, P. B., and R. H. Coles, 1958. The effects of
early humidities on broiler production. Proc.
Assoc. Southern Agricultural Workers, 55:
240-241.
Sturkie, P. D., 1965. Avian Physiology, Second
Edition, pp. 221 and 246.
Wekstein, D. R., and J. F. Zolman, 1967. Hom-
eothermic developments of the young chick.
Proc. Soc. Exper. Biology Med. 125: 294-297.
Wekstein, D. R., and J. F. Zolman, 1966. Personal
communication.
Wilson, W. O., U. K. Abbott and H. Abplanalp,
1961. Evaluation of coturnix (Japanese quail)
as pilot animal for poultry. Poultry Sci. 40:
6S1-6S7.
Wilson, W. O., H. Ota and T. D. Siopes, 1969.
Avian bioclimate chambers for research. Poultry
Sci. 48: 1085-1090.
TABLE 1.—Composition of basal diet*
Ingredients Percent
Normal wheat 61.0
Dehyd. alfalfa meal 2.5
Soybean meal (48% protein) 22.0
Herring fish meal 5.0
Meat and bone scraps 5.0
* Balance of the diet composed of mineral and
vitamin supplements with chromic oxide added at
0.2 percent for use in M.E. determinations.
pared to normal wheat. Sprouted wheat
was evaluated at 25, SO, 75 and 100 per-
cent replacement of normal wheat in a
high-energy starter ration. The composition
of the basal diet is shown in Table 1.
Two hundred day-old White Leghorn
cockerel chicks were housed in a Jamesway
Universal battery and fed the control
wheat diet for two days. All chicks were
 RESEARCH NOTES 1773

then individually weighed and ISO assigned TABLE 2.—Chemical composition of sprouted and
non-sprouted Gaines soft white winter wheat
to the experimental lots so that each lot
contained 15 chicks of similar weights. Du- Component Sprouted* Non-sprouted**
plicate lots were fed the experimental ra-
Moisture 7.99% 7.01%
tions for a 28-day period with body Ash 1.93 2.19
weights being recorded at 7, 14, 21 and 28 Fat 0.88 0.79
Crude fiber 3.57 3.22
days. Feed consumption for each lot was Protein 13.16 12.32
determined for the 28-day period. Feed and N.F.E. 72.47 74.47
Ca 1.56 1.88
water were supplied ad libitum. Chromic P 1.24 1.16
oxide was added to the diets 10 days before
* Test weight sprouted wheat 55.9 pounds per
a 3-day fecal collection period. Metaboliz- bushel.
able energy was determined employing the ** Test weight normal wheat 60.4 pounds per
bushel.
procedures of Hill and Anderson (1958).
Chemical analysis of the sprouted and
non-sprouted Gaines wheat (Table 2) indi- able energy was found between the two
cated only minor differences in protein, wheats when each comprised 100 percent of
fat, fiber, ash and moisture. the grain portion of the ration. However,
metabolizable energy was significantly
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION higher for combinations of sprouted and
The evaluation of normal vs. sprouted normal wheat than for either wheat when
wheat is summarized in Table 3. Substitu- fed alone. There was a tendency for the
tion of 25 to 100 percent sprouted wheat chicks to metabolize more energy with the
for normal wheat resulted in no difference 1:1 ratio of the two grains; however, there
in average weight gain or efficiency of feed was no statistical difference in M.E. when
utilization. Thus, in terms of weight gain the ratios of normal to sprouted wheat
or feed efficiency, no deleterious effect of were 1:3, 1:1, or 3:1 respectively.
feeding sprouted wheat to young birds was Sprouted wheat can be successfully used
found. in rations for poultry as based upon early
No significant difference in metaboliz- chick growth data.

TABLE 3.—Summary of evaluation of normal vs. sprouted Gaines wheat in the diet of
White Leghorn cockerel chicks to 4 weeks of age

Percent wheat in diet: Body wt. gain in g. g. feed/g. gain Metabolizable

Normal Sprouted Repl. Av. Repl. Av. Kcal./g.
61.00 — 405 2.06
405 405a* 2.08 2.07 2.5998a*

45.75 15.25 420 1.95

415 417a 1.96 1.95 2.7207b

30.50 30.50 404 2.09

406 405a 2.03 2.06 2.7443b
15.25 45.75 398 2.10
419 409a 2.00 2.05 2.7035b

— 61.00 398 1.92

397 397a 2.03 1.97 2.6155a

* Data followed by unlike letters are significantly different at the .05 level of probability.
1774 RESEARCH NOTES

Murray, G. A., and D. M. Huber, 1968. Sprouted

REFERENCES
Hill, F. W., and D. L. Anderson, 1958. Compari-
son of metabolizable energy and productive en-
ergy determinations with growing chicks. J.
Nutrition, 64: 587-603.
and moldy wheat. Idaho Agr. Exp. Sta. Current
Information Series No. 95.
Steel, R. G. P., and J. H. Torrie, 1960. Principles
and Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill Co.,
New York.

EVIDENCE FOR A RHYTHMICITY OF WITHIN-GROUP VARIABILITY OF

BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN THE CHICK
ROBERT L. SQUIBB
Laboratories of Disease and Environmental Stress, Rutgers—The State University,
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

(Received for publication September 2, 1969)

A detailed study of data collected fromi
periodicity experiments conducted in ourr
laboratories over the last six years has3
shown that variability within groups, as3
measured by standard deviations of means,
may have diurnal rhythms that are inde-
pendent of and equally as organized as cir-
cadian rhythms or diurnal oscillations off
group means. Further, the variabilityf
rhythms, like those of group means, can be5
affected by exogenous and endogenous3
agents. A working hypothesis was devel-
oped by plotting and statistically testingy
diurnal changes in the standard deviationss
of group means of several avian tissue con-
stituents.
The phenomenon of rhythmicity in with-
in-group variability is illustrated in Fig. 1L
showing highly significant changes in sev-
eral different parameters. The graphs also3
demonstrate how the rhythms can be al-
tered by exogenous and endogenous agents.i.
In order to have a common denominatorr
for comparing the various parameters, diur-
nal changes of the standard deviations aree
presented in terms of percentage change.:.
Each point on a curve represents at least 88
animals sacrificed at that particular time.:.
All data are for 4 week old cockerel chickss
from periodicity standardized experimentss
in which all animals were given the same
reference diet ad libitum and were reared
under the same laboratory conditions. Sam-
pling procedures and chemical analyses
were also standardized and have been pre-
viously described (Squibb, 1964a).
The first graph (1-a), covering a 72-
hour period, shows that peaks and troughs
of diurnal oscillations of the standard de-
viations of mean serum free amino acid
values were inverted when chicks were
reared under two different lighting regi-
mens. Graph 1-b illustrates how the pat-
tern of standard deviation oscillations in
noninfected animals was altered by a New-
castle disease virus infection.
Under constant lighting (1-c) curves of
the within-group variability of hepatic
DNA, RNA and protein showed similar
patterns. However, in the hearts of the
same chicks (1-d), the curves of these
three parameters did not coincide.
Graph 1-e illustrates that the rhythm for
within-group variability may be indepen-
dent of mean patterns; here the former has
a definite rhythm while the latter is almost
a straight line function. That the rhythmi-
city of within-group variability may not be
species related is shown in 1-f wherein the
curves of RNA in the heart of the growing