NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
March, 1951]
BARUA,
AYYAR
AND
KEHAR
37
The results of the metabolic trials show that the animals can make better
utilization of the nutrients from Venezuela hay made from the preflowering stage
than from the flowering stage.
All the animals in both the experiments recorded positive balances of nitrogen,
calcium and phosphorus. The retentions of these elements in the preflowering
stage were found to be appreciably higher than those of the flowering stage.
Hay made at the preflowering stage shows a better nutritive value than at
the flowering stage.
REFERENCES
Barua, J. N., Ayyar, N. K., Kehar, N. D. (1951).
Sen, K. C. (1938). I. C. A. R. Misc. Bull. 25, New Delhi.
THE DETERMINATION OF THE PERCENTAGE OF
EDIBLE FLESH IN THE RHODE ISLAND RED,
WHITE LEGHORN AND DESI (INDIGENOUS)
COCKERELS AT DIFFERENT STAGES
OF GROWTH
By T. D. MAHADEVAN and S. BOSE, Poultry Research Section, Indian Veterinary
Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh
(Received for publication on 16 September 1950)
I N India there is, at present, no specialised farm for table poultry production
and the birds going to market are mostly by products of egg production. The
sale of surplus young male birds is rather seasonal and is a side line to the annual
production of pullets. It is a source of profit to the poultry farmer provided the
surplus cockerels are disposed off at an age, when the largest net return can be
obtained. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the percentage
of edible flesh in the Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn and the improved desi
cockerels at 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks of age respectively in order to compare the
efficiency of the different classes of poultry.
EXPERIMENTAL
The birds used in the present experiment were from the surplus cockerels left
over during the production of replacement stocks in the Institute Farm. They
were fed on mash and grain system of feeding and no attempt was made for fattening
up the birds. During the first eight weeks, the birds received both groundnut cake
meal and separated milk as the protein supplement but from eight weeks onwards
only groundnut cake meal was fed as the protein supplement. The birds were
killed and bled by dislocating the neck, and were dry-picked immediately after-
wards. The distribution of edible and inedible parts of the cockerels of different
classes at different stages of growth is shown in Table I.
The figures in Table I represent the average results obtained from at least
six birds in each case. The percentage of feathers in Rhode Island Reds at eight
weeks was found to be about 50 per cent less than in White Leghorns and desis
of the same age. Although at later stages of growth the difference was not signi-
ficant, up till 16 weeks ' bare backs ' were more pronounced in Rhode Island Reds
than in White Leghorns or desis. The problem of feathering in young stock is of
great interest as one of the most important quality factors in market poultry is
the condition of the body feathering when it reaches the market. As most of the
cockerels may go to market between ten and twelve weeks of age, the back region
should be well feathered at this age. The problem is, however, primarily a breeding
one. As there is a higher percentage of desi than of improved fowls in India, it is
fortunate that the desi cockerels acquire a complete covering of feathers at the
39
40
THE DETERMINATION OF THE PERCENTAGE OF EDIBLE FLESH [Vol. XI, Part I,
TABLE I
Distribution of edible and inedible parts in cockerels, expressed as percentage of live weight
Live weight in pounds
Feathers
Offal (head, shanks, feet and
inedible viscera)
Drawn weight
Edible organs and neck
Total edible meat in drawn
bird
Breast meat
Leg meat (thigh and drum
stick)
8 week old
RIR
0.95
4.57
29.10
53.54
12.79
40.44
7.49
14.78
WL
0.93
8.96
31.62
48.60
10.82
35.12
7.98
9.58
Desi*
0.76
9.31
25.94
51.72
13.03
46.87
11.89
14.49
12 week old
RIR
1.18
8.18
30.10
49.13
12.79
38.08
6.49
14.40
WL
1.26
7.96
34.22
46.68
11.14
32.69
6.60
8.63
Desi
1.29
8.08
32.07
50.84
9.01
41.35
10.84
13.03
16 week old
RIR
2.33
6.53
29.83
52.41
11.23
40.38
10.90
17.60
WL
1.84
6.81
33.30
50.08
9.81
33.95
9.39
12.54
Desi
1.67
7.82
29.62
52.84
9.72
41.14
12.44
17.77
20 week old
RIR
3.25
5.17
29.03
57.16
8.64
42.86
12.91
16.97
WL
2.57
7.06
30.35
52.71
9.88
32.52
10.72
12.91
Desi
2.46
5.95
29.08
56.02
8.95
44.52
12.49
17.10
24 week old
RIR
4.09
6.76
25.05
59.83
8.36
44.76
11.65
16.65
WL
3.49
6.77
27.60
57.12
8.51
40.51
12.36
13.75
Desi
3.63
6.98
22.34
627.6
8.01
50.23
14.25
17.44
* Indian fowl
STUDIES IN THE WOOL QUALITY OF PATTANWADI SHEEP
By SUNANDA NARAYAN, Laboratory Officer, Wool Analysis Laboratory, Jaipur
(Received for publication on 29 April 1949)
(With Plates I-IV and one text figure)
PATTANWADI is the main type of sheep in North Gujrat extending upto
Palanpur in the north, Viramgham in the south, Cutch in the west and Mahikanta
in the east. There are about five lakhs of sheep in this area and two lakhs of the
same type of sheep are said to be existing in Cutch also, mostly with the stationary
sheep farmers. As the story is recited by the breeders in these areas, the home of
Pattanwadi breed is Cutch. About 60 years back the entire sheep population of
this state was of this type. During severe drought years, large number of flocks had
to go across to North Gujrat in search of grazing. Gradually North Gujrat acquired
these sheep permanently both because some of the flocks changed hands and because
some of the breeders themselves settled down here. Other breeders from Cutch
crossed their sheep with Marwari rams, to introduce the qualities of hardiness, resis-
tance to diseases, and thriftiness, necessary for nomadic sheep and evolved the
Cutchi nomadic sheep of to-day, breeding true.
Pattanwadi sheep are lightly built, brown faced, curved nosed animals, resembl-
ing the Kathiwadi in many respects. They produce one of the finest types of wool
in India. They are usually bred in flocks of 50 to 100 head. The farmers depend
mostly on milk and secondarily on wool for their income out of these sheep. Mutton
is of no value to them as they have sentimental objections to slaughtering of animals.
As such their breeding policy is to increase the yield of both these products. They
do so not only by selecting such rams of the same breed but also resort to cross-
breeding with Cutchi rams whose wool yield is better or Chanothar sheep which
have better milking capacity. The wool produced by Cutchi sheep is coarser and
more medullated than that of Pattanwadi while Chanothar wool is very coarse and
extremely hairy (Plates I, II and III). As the rate of wool is fixed without parti-
cular reference to quality, the breeders do not appreciate the effect on the wool
quality of their sheep by resorting to these methods of breeding which are fast
leading to disintegration of the fine woolled Pattanwadi breed.
As a part of the drive towards sheep and wool improvement in this area,
the former Baroda Government established a sheep breeding farm to rear up im-
proved and pedigreed Pattanwadi rams for distribution to the sheep farmers in
Patan-Mehsana District. Attached to the farm was set up a Wool Analysis Labora-
tory, subsidised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to help in selection
and breeding of better wool bearing stock and fixing up of specifications for the
commercially graded wools. The different attributes of length, crimp, fineness,
medullation and density of fibres, of wool samples of the sheep collected at the
above farm and their progenies were recorded here. The results of these studies
43
44
STUDIES IN THE WOOL QALITY OF PATTANWADI SHEEP [Vol. XXI, Part I,
have been compiled and discussed in this paper under the three heads—(1) classi-
fication of sheep on the basis of wool quality, (2) variation in different regions of
the fleece and with age and sex of the sheep, (3) variations due to season and number
of shearings per year. The breeding policy observed in the farm was to produce
finer and less medullated wool while keeping the length and crimp of fibres above
a certain standard.
Collection of samples
Each side of the sheep covered by wool was divided into six regions as shown
in Plate IV. From the centre of each region so divided, samples were cut as close
to the skin as possible from approximately 8 sq. in. of skin area, excepting from
side, from where wool from 10 sq. in. of skin area was cut on account of its bigger
area. Samples from corresponding regions on both the sides were combined to form
the major sample for further processing.
Preparing a representative sample
The original sample was divided into two, and again each into two. This
halving was repeated until there were sixteen divisions. From each of these divi-
sions small bunches of fibres of equal bulk, as far as possible, were taken and combined
to form the representative sample for further analysis.
Methods of measurement
Length of fibre was measured on a black velvet board by stretching it along
a standard steel rule. The fibres in the representative sample were first mixed up
thoroughly. Five fibres were picked up at random from this sample and discarded.
The length and number of crimps of every sixth fibre so picked out were recorded.
Hundred observations per sample were taken.
Cuttings of about 1 mm. in length were taken at three points of the represen-
tative sample, base, middle point and the tip. These were thoroughly mixed up
and a part of this was mounted on a slide in cidar wood oil. Diameter measure-
ments were made at a magnification of 500 through the ' WIRA ' microprojection
apparatus. Observations—100 to 200—were made per slide with 25 observations
per traverse. Medullation was estimated by counting the number of medullated
pieces of fibres occurring while recording the diameter, taking into consideration the
different degrees of medullation. The density of population of fibres was deter-
mined by obtaining sample from a known area. A small representative sample
was prepared from this sample which was weighed and the number of fibres in it
counted. From these figures and the weight of the total sample, the total number
of fibres was calculated. The proportion of different types of fibres in a sample
was determined by dividing the sample into three classes of fibres—(1) Wool (non-
medullated fibres), (2) hetero types (partially medullated fibres) and (3) hair and
kemp (completely medullated fibres) and weighing each on a torsion balance. All
these measurements were carried out under the prevailing atmospheric conditions.
Classification of sheep on the basis of wool quality
One hundred and thirty seven sheep were examined for this enquiry leading
to an idea of the variation in the different characters of wool within the breed
Indian J. vet. Sci., Vol. XXI, Part
I]
PLATE
I
Microphotograph of wool fibres of Pattanwadi sheep (200 X)
PLATE II
[Indian J. vet. Sci., Vol. XXI, Part 1
Microphotograph of wool fibres of Cutchi sheep (200 X)
Indian J. vet. Sci., Vol. XXI, Part II ]
PLATE
III
Microphotograph of wool fibres of Chanothar sheep (200 X)
PLATE IV
[Indian
J. vet. Sci., Vol. XXI, Part 1
Pattanwadi ewe
March, 1951]
SUNANDA
NARAYAN
45
Properties were determined for wool samples from the back regions and the results
are compiled in Table I.
TABLE I
Frequency distribution of the mean values of length, crimp, diameter, and medullation
percentage of wool samples of back regions of 137 Pattanwadi sheep
Length in inches
Mid-point
of class
interval
2.25
2.75
3.25
3.75
4.25
4.75
5.25
Percentage
frequency
10.7
27.5
33.6
16.0
9.2
3.0
..
Number of crimps per
inch of fibre
Mid-point
of class
interval
5.5
6.5
7.5
8.5
9.5
10.5
11.5
Percentage
frequency
6.6
14.7
43.6
27.7
11.0
3.7
3.7
Diameter in microns
Mid-point
of class
interval
28.5
32.5
36.5
40.5
44.5
..
..
Percentage
frequency
10.5
46.6
37.6
4.5
0.8
..
..
Medullation per-
centage
Mid-point
of class
interval
2.5
7.5
12.5
17.5
22.5
27.5
..
Percentage
frequency
38.0
25.5
19.0
7.3
8.0
2.2
..
Mean values of length vary from 2.0 to 5.5 inches with largest frequencies at
2.75, 3.25, and 3.75 inches while those for crimp vary from 5 to 12 with largest
frequencies at 6.5, 7.5 and 8.5. According to the breeding policy mentioned above
it was necessary to choose minimum values for length and crimp of fibres. 2.5
inches for length and 6 for crimp were chosen so as to allow sufficiently large number
of sheep for selection and classification on the basis of other characters.
Mean values of diameters vary from 26.5 to 46.5 microns, the largest frequencies
lying at 32.5 and 36.5 microns. Leaving out animals with mean values above 38
microns, the rest fall into three groups as :
Extra super . . . . . .
Super . . . . . . . .
First . . . . . . . .
27 to 30 microns
31 to 34 „
35 to 38 „
Medullation percentages vary from 0 per cent to 30 per cent the highest fre-
quencies being at 2.5 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent. It is significant to
note here that 38 per cent of the sample have medullation below 5 per cent and 63.5
per cent below 10 per cent against the fact that the Indian wools are generally consi-
dered to be hairy. Three groups are obtained here also as (1) 0 to 5 per cent, (2) 5
per cent to 10 per cent and (3) 10 per cent to 15 per cent, discarding the rest having
medullation above 15 per cent.
46
STUDIES IN THE WOOL QUALITY OF PATTANWADI SHEEP [Vol. XXI, Part I,
On the above specifications, for length of fibres, (2.5 in.), crimp (6 crimps per
inch), diameter (38 microns), and medullation (15 per cent), the animals could be
divided into following classes :
TABLE II
Percentage number of animals in different classes based on characters of wool
Class
Extra Super
Super A
Super B
First A
First B
Discarded
Diameter in
microns
27—30
31—34
31—34
35—38
35—38
..
Medullation
percentage
0— 5
0— 5
5—10
5—10
10—15
..
Percentage
of animals
7
23
12
12
15
31
According to the above classification 31 per cent of animals are discarded.
Had higher standards been adopted for any of the characters above, 36 per cent
to 59 per cent of animals would have come under this group, too great for practical
purposes. As such the basis for classification as recommended above was the
best possible under the existing stage of development of the breed.
The above discussion refers to a frequency distribution irrespective of ages
of animals. Even when the mean values were classified into distributions of different
ages, the order of frequencies were generally the same in these different groups
with small variations in averages for each group. However, variations in different
characters of wool with age require different standards for different ages or conver-
tion factors for differences in age. The specification of different classes mentioned
above were recommended for ewes of 1½ years, the age about which the ewe is usually
bred from.
The important fact which is brought out by this study is that there are consi-
derable number of Pattanwadi sheep with wool of as fine a diameter as 27 microns
and of little or no medullation. According to the table of wool characteristics
of different Indian breeds given by Vaidya and Bhatt [1947] excepting sheep of
Kashmir and the Merino cross—Hissardale, Pattanwadi wool is the finest, without
any medullation. Also the variations in the wool characters of different sheep
are restricted to narrow ranges, as usually met with, within a breed. With
such sheep, there is every possibility of successfully growing fine wool with little
or no medullation on a large scale in this area in a comparatively short period
even by selective breeding.
March, 1951]
SUNANDA
NARAYAN
47
VARIATION OF WOOL CHARACTERS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE FLEECE AND
WITH AGE AND SEX OF SHEEP
Length, crimp and diameter
Twelve animals, 6 aged ¾ years and another 6 aged 1½ years, each group with
with 3 ewes and 3 rams were selected at random. Six regions, neck, withers, shoul-
ders, side, back and breech were marked out on both the sides and samples were
collected accordingly. The avarage length, diameter, crimp per inch and medulla-
tion percentage of representative samples of these samples were recorded and are
compiled in Table III.
TABLE III
Averages of mean values of length, crimp, diameter and medullation of each region
along with critical differences for region
Region
Neck
Withers
Shoulders
Side
Back
Breech
Critical difference for
P=0.05
P=0.01
Length
in
inches
3.70 (±0.164)
3.68 (±0.206)
3.46 (±0.119)
3.14 (±0.150)
3.20 (±0.088)
3.19 (±0.134)
0.224
0.300
Crimp
per
inch
7.6 (±0.29)
7.8 (±0.24)
7.9 (±0.19)
8.0 (±0.24)
8.5 (±0.34)
7.8 (±0.27)
0.59
0.79
Diameter
in
microns
38.6 (±1.68)
38.3 (±1.60)
35.3 (±1.62)
35.3 (±1.43)
35.6 (±1.30)
37.6 (±1.75)
1.82
2.44
Medullation
percentage
14.0 (±3.29)
7.6 (±1.84)
9.6 (±2.59)
9.5 (±2.78)
9.0 (±2.05)
20.7 (±4.93)
4.59
6.14
NOTE :— The figures in brackets are standard errors of averages
(1) Length. Mean values of length varied from 2.24 in. to 5.18 in., neck and wither
samples being generally longer than side and breech samples, with shoulder samples
in between the two as shown by the averages given above. The range of variation
in an animal varied from 0.42 in. to 1.78 in.
48
STUDIES IN THE WOOL QUALITY OF PATTANWADI SHEEP [Vol. XXI, Part I,
TABLE IV
Analysis of variance of mean values of length
Source
Between sex
Between age
A × S
Between animals within A. within S.
(Error 1).
Between animals
Between regions
A × R
S × R
A × S × R
An. × reg. within age within sex (Error 2)
TOTAL .
D. F.
1
1
1
8
11
5
6
5
5
40
71
S. S.
0.4497
0.5850
2.1806
7.5556
10.7709
3.9339
0.9442
0.4989
0.5240
2.9497
19.6216
M. S.
0.4497
0.5850
2.1806
0.9445
0.7868
0.1888
0.0998
0.1048
0.0737
R. X.
2.3087
10.6757**
2.5617*
1.3541
1.4220
* Significant at 5 per cent level of error
** Significant at 1 per cent level of error
Mean values of length in inches for different regions
Neck
3.70
Withers
3.68
Shoulder
3.46
Back
3.20
Breech
3.19
Side
3.14
The analysis of variance—Table IV shows the variation due to regions to be
significant at 1 per cent level. The critical difference Table III—shows that there
is no significant difference between the average values of the different regions within
the two groups (1) neck and withers, (2) side, back and breech, while the value of
each region in group (1) is significantly different from that of each region in group
(2) at 1 per cent level. The value of shoulder is significantly different at five per
cent level from those of all the other regions except withers and its difference with
the value of side is significant at 1 per cent level. As such, it will be convenient to
redivide the fleece into three parts on the basis of average length of fibres as (1)
neck withers, (2) shoulder and (3) side, back and breech. The number of samples
for analysis of the fleece could be reduced to one from each of these parts.
March, 1951]
SUNANDA
NARAYAN
49
Sex and age
The averages (in inches) of mean values of length of wool samples of the six
regions of sheep of same age and sex are given below:
—
Ewes
Rams
Average
3¾ years
3.21
3.40
3.305
1½ years
3.74
3.23
3.485
Average
3.475
3.315
3.395
The above result do not indicate any regular variation in length of fibres with
either age or sex of the sheep.
TABLE V
Analysis of variance of number of crimps per inch
Source
Between sex
Between ago
Age × sex
Between animal within ago within sex
(Error 1)
Between animals
Between regions
A × R
S × R
A × S × R
An. × R within age within sex (Error 2)
TOTAL
D. F.
1
1
1
8
11
5
5
5
5
40
71
S. S.
7.03
7.54
3.50
8.55
26.62
5.63
2.79
3.48
2.14
20.58
61.24
M. S.
7.03
7.54
3.50
1.07
1.13
0.56
0.70
0.43
0.51
R.
6.57*
7.06*
3.27
2.216
1.098
1.372
0.83
*Significant at 5 percent level
Mean values of crimps per inch for different regions
Back
8.5
Side
8.0
Shoulders
7.9
Withers
7.8
Breech
7.8
Neck
7.6
50
STUDIES IN THE WOOL QUALITY OF PATTANWADI SHEEP [Vol. XXI, Part I,
(2) Crimp
The number of crimps per inch of fibres varied from 6.4 to 9.7 excepting for
one value 11.4. Generally the variation over region was not in any particular order.
The range of variation per fleece varied from 0.9 to 4.1 with only two values above
2.1.
The analysis of variance—Table V shows the variation due to regions to be
not significant. It will thus be seen that the difference between any two average
values is lower than the critical difference at 5 per cent level—Table III—except
for the average of back region. This high average for back region was due to the
high value 11.4 of the back sample of one of the sheep.
Sex and age
The average of mean values of crimp for different ages and sexes are given below:
Males
Females
Average
3¾ years
7.51
7.72
7.615
1½ years
7.69
8.78
8.235
Average
7.600
8.250
7.925
The average crimps per inch of older fleeces are less than that of younger
animals and of rams less than that of ewes. The variations due to both sex and age
are significant at five per cent level (Table V). The wool samples of younger
animals are likely to have more crimp than those of older animals and of ewes
more than those of rams.
TABLE VI
Analysis of variance of mean values of diameter
Source
Between sex
Between ago
Sex and age
Between animal within age within sex
(Error 1)
Between animals
Between region
A × R
R × S
R × S A
Animal × Region within age within sex
(Error 2)
TOTAL
D. F.
1
1
1
8
11
5
5
5
5
40
71
S. S.
402.806
786.062
0.061
539.386
1728.315
147.587
4.502
32.225
31.796
155.788
2100.213
M. S.
402.806
786.062
0.061
67.423
29.517
0.900
6.445
6.359
4.895
R.
5.974*
11.658**
0.001
6.030**
0.184
1.317
1.299
* Significant at 1 per cent level
** Significant at 5 per cent lavel
March, 1951]
SUNANDA
NARAYAN
51
Mean values of diameter in microns for different regions.
Neck
Withers
Breech
Back
Shoulders
Side
38.6
38.3
37.6
35.6
35.3
35.3
(3) Diameter. The mean values of diameter varied from 26.3 to 49.2 microns
Generally the mean values of neck, wither and breech samples were higher than those
of shoulder, side and back as shown by the averages given in the Table III. The
range of variation per fleece varied from 3.1 to 18.4 microns with 2 values above
8.2 microns. The analysis of variance Table VI shows the variation due to region
to be highly significant. From the critical difference and the averages of regions-
Table III—it can be seen that while the regions within each group do not vary
significantly with each other, each region of the group (1) neck, withers and breech
differs significantly from each region in the group (2) shoulder, back and side at
5 per cent level. At 1 per cent level, the regions fall into two groups (1) neck, wither
and (2) shoulder, side and back with breech being significantly different from one
another. As such the regions can be conveniently grouped and the fleece can be
divided into three parts (1) neck, wither and (2) shoulder side, back and (3) breech
on the basis of average fineness of wool.
Sex and age—
The averages of mean values of diameter of wool samples of different ages
and sexes are given below.
Male
Female
Average
3¾ years
42.48
37.69
40.085
1½ years
35.82
31.14
33.480
Average
39.150
34.415
36.782
The averages of older sheep and of rams are higher than those of younger sheep
and of ewes respectively. Variation due to sex is significant at 5 per cent level
and due to age is significant at 1 per cent level (Table VI). The wool can be ex-
pected to be coarser with age of sheep, and rams to carry coarser wool than the
ewes.
Later, samples from side and shoulder regions were taken from 7 lambs at six
months and one year. The diameter records of these samples showed an increase
in every pair of corresponding samples with an average increase of 7.2 micron
per set. This increase was significant at 1 per cent level. Thus the wool can be
expected to become coarser as the lambs grow up. Generally in sheep, it has been
observed that lamb wool is finer and crimpier, than wool of adult sheep.