Dietary Aureomycin and the response of the fowl to stressors

1. Conventional or gnotobiotic chicks, when injected from 1 d to 3 weeks of age with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (120 IU/kg, three times weekly), showed a depressed growth rate, adrenal hypertrophy and depletion of cholesterol from the adrenal glands.

2. Feeding a diet supplemented with aureomycin (10 mg/kg) did not have any consistent ameliorating effect on the response of the stressed bird as judged by the above parameters.

3. It was found that treating germfree chicks with five daily injections of sterile milk on days 3 to 7 did not depress growth rate at any time, nor could differences in adrenal size or cholesterol stores be detected at the end of the 21‐d experimental period. The responses were not modified by feeding an aureomycin‐supplemented diet.