Layer performance and Egg Quality of Poultry Birds Exposed to Dichlorvos
Keywords:
Dichlorvos, Reproductive success, sexual maturity, egg laying hens.Abstract
The effect of dichlorvos on reproductive performance of laying hens was studied. Seven weeks old pullets with an average weight of 557.5 ± 9.5 g were divided into four groups and fed ad libitum with commercial poultry feeds contaminated with 0.01, 0.02 and 0.04% dichlorvos (w/v). The group without dichlorvos served as the control. Exposure to dichlorvos was continued until nine weeks after the hens started laying eggs. There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in feed intake between the control group and those exposed to dichlorvos. Egg laying was delayed in the hens exposed to the pesticide by as much as eighteen weeks. The ages of the hens at first egg lay were 18 weeks for the control, 23 weeks for hens fed on 0.01 and 0.02% contaminated diet and 36 weeks for those fed on 0.04% contaminated diet. The average daily egg production was reduced from 5 eggs in the control group to 1 egg in 0.04% contaminated group. The protein contents of the egg (yolk and egg-white) and cholesterol level of the egg yolk were lowered in birds exposed to dichlorvos. There was no significant difference in the weight of eggs between the control and those exposed to pesticide. Results of this study suggest that exposure of laying hens to dichlorvos could affect their reproductive success.
Downloads
References
Environews Forum (1999) Killer environment. Environ Health Perspect. 107: A62. Environmental Protection Agency (2006). Decision documents for atrazine. Available at www.epa.gov/
Foster, T.S. (1974). Physiological and biological effects of pesticide residues in poultry. Reviews of environmental contamination and Toxicology, 51: 69-121
Fry, D.M. (1995) Reproductive Effects in Birds Exposed to Pesticides and Industrial Chemicals. Environmental Health Perspectives, 103(7): 165-171.
Lowry, O.H., Rosenbrough, N.J., Fair, A.L., Randall and R.J. (1951). Protein measurement with the Folin – Phenol reagent. J Biol Chem, 193: 265-270.
Pym, R.A.E., Singh, G., Gilbert, W.S., Armstrong, J.P. and McCleary, B.V. (1984). effects of dichlorvos, maldison and pirimiphos-methyl on food consumption, egg production, egg and tissue residue and plasma acetylcholinesterase inhibition in layer strain hens. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 24: 83-92.
Shen. C.S., Chen, I.S. and Sheppard, A.J. (1982). Enzymatic determination of cholesterol in egg yolk, J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 65(5):1222-1224.
Singh, B.K. and Walker, A. (2006). Microbial Degradation of Organophosphorus Compounds, FEMS Microbiology Review, Vol.30, No. 3, (May 2006), pp.428-471, ISSN 0168-6445.
Summer, C.L., Giesy, J.P., Bursian, S.J., Render, J.A., Kubiak, T.J., Jones, P.D., Verbrugge, D.A. and Aulerich, R.J. (1996). Effects induced by feeding organochlorine-contaminated carp from Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, to laying White Leghorn hens. I. Effects on health of adult hens, egg production, and fertility. J Toxicol Environ Health. 49(4):389-407.
Whorton, D., Krauss, R.M., Marshall, S, and Milby, T.H. (1972). Infertility in male pesticide workers, Lancet 2: 1259-1261.
Yair, S., Ofer, B., Arik, E., Shai,,S., Yossi, R., Tzvika, D. and Amir, K. (2008). Organophosphate Degrading Microorganisms and Enzymes as Biocatalysts in Environmental and Personal Decontamination, Applied Critical Review in Biotechnology, Vol.28, pp. 265-275.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
