Afeeding trial was conducted in layers for a period of8 weeks (23-30 weeks old) to evaluate the effect of chromium picolinate supplementation on egg yolk cholesterol and egg chromium content in layers.Atotal of (n=120) layers were randomly distributed in completely randomized design into 4 treatmentgroupseachwith2 replicates of 5chicks.The layers of treatment group T1(control)were provided water without chromiumwhile those of T2,T3andT4were provided water containing 200, 400 and 600 ppb chromium / litre respectively.At the end of feeding trial, six eggs from each replicate, on last three days were used for egg yolk cholesterol and egg chromium studies. The results indicated that the total cholesterol andLDL cholesterol content of eggs were significantly (P0.05) reduced and HDL-cholesterol content significantly increased in 400 and 600 ppb chromium supplemented group of layers. Whereas chromium content of eggs increased with increasing levels of chromium supplementation. It was concluded that organic chromium supplementation up to 600 ppb level through water may be advisable to reduce egg yolk total cholesterol and LDL- cholesterol and improved HDL-cholesterol and egg chromium content.

This study was conducted to ascertain anatomical variation in different body parts of Desi, Fayoumi, Cross (Rhode Island Red x Fayoumi) and Nick Chick laying hens. A total 16 laying hens of average body weight were selected using random numbers out of 2600 laying hens, slaughtered and eviscerated. It was observed that proportion of neck, ribs, breast, back, wings, thigh and legs out of aggregate weight was highest (51.74 plus minus 2.85) in Fayoumi hens. The proportion of liver, gizzard, heart and spleen combined weight was highest (6.05 plus minus 1.81) in desi hens. The proportion of non edible offals including trachea, lungs, kidneys, blood, feathers, head, crop, proventriculus, intestines, shanks, gizzard waste, skin, tail, testes, ova, oviduct and fat was estimated to be highest i.e. 46.60 plus minus 1.16 in Nick Chick laying hens. The anatomical variation in Desi and Fayoumi chicks was attributable to scavenging habit of these birds. The high proportion of edible offal in commercial Nick Chick hens may be ascribable to higher productive and reproductive traits.

Objective: Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) is responsible for causing infectious laryngo¬tracheitis (ILT), which is a rapidly spreading and extremely transmissible disease in chickens. The current research aims to isolate and characterize ILTV from layer chickens in Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: A total of 345 samples (trachea, larynx, and lungs) were collected from ILT-suspected dead and sick layer chickens of 32 ILT-suspected farms in three different outbreak districts (Gazipur, Tangail, and Mymensingh) of Bangladesh during the outbreak year 2021-2022. Rapid detection kits examined the samples for avian influenza virus (AIV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). ILTV-specific primers were used to screen 72 NDV- and AIV-negative samples by poly¬merase chain reaction (PCR). Using chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), the study isolated the ILT virus from 9 to 10-day-old seronegative embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs) using selected PCR-positive samples. The virus was confirmed using nucleotide sequencing, agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGIDT), viral neutralization test (VNT), and pathogenicity evaluations using mortality index for chicken embryos (MICEs) and intra-tracheal pathogenicity index (ITPI). Results: The results indicated that among the PCR-positive 10 samples, only two (Alim_ILT_1001 and Alim_ILT_1,000) were found positive using ECEs. There were two field isolates of ILTVs, as shown by the amplicon size of the ICP4 gene-based PCR. A phylogenetic study of the ICP4 gene revealed that the recent isolates have a close similarity with the ILTV isolates of Turkey, Bangladesh, and Australia. AGIDT revealed strong precipitation lines due to ILTV-specific antibod¬ies reacting with field viruses, while VNT neutralized both isolates with conventional ILTV antibod¬ies. The pathogenicity testing indicated that Alim_ILT_1001 had MICE and ITPI values of 0.77 and 0.63, whereas Alim_ILT_1,000 had 0.71 and 0.57. Conclusion: Both the ILTV isolates have similarities with the isolates of Turkey, Bangladesh, and Australia, and they are highly virulent for chickens. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2024; 11(2.000): 398-407]