ANSC 2120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Guineafowl, Broiler, Cystine

• School: Cornell University
• Department: Animal Science
• Course: ANSC 2120
• Professor: Debbie Cherney

Document Summary

Lecture 35: comparative nutrition domesticated birds (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Classes of birds used for production of food and other products. Biological characteristics of birds that affect their nutrition. In general, birds naturally grow at relative rates much faster than in most mammal: e. g. Japanese quail attain mature size ~7weeks after hatching. Artificial selection for rapid growth in meat birds has greatly increased this characteristic: e. g. broiler chicken, turkey (cid:1) Most adult birds eat adult diet immediately after hatch: exception is the pigeon, which is altricial and requires. Crop milk produced by sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the crop of its parents for 1-2 weeks after hatching. Feathers account for 4-9% empty body weight of birds. Feathers are composed largely of the protein keratin, which has a high content of the sulfur amino acid, cystine: this adds to requirements of the essential sulfur amino acid, methionine. Birds must bear weight on only two legs (cid:1) (cid:1)