Induced Fatty Liver-Hemorrhagic Syndrome (FLHS) and Accumulation of Hepatic Lipid in Force-Fed Laying Chickens

Weights of the liver components (water, lipid and non-lipid dry weight) were increased in adult female chickens proportional to the amounts of feed force-fed for 21 days at daily amounts up to 50 percent more than ad libitum fed control birds. Despite being force-fed, all force-fed chickens consumed feed, ad libitum, at amounts inversely proportional to the rate of force-feeding. Hepatic hemorrhages characteristic of Fatty Liver-Hemorrhagic Syndrome (FLHS) were induced in these force-fed birds and the hemorrhagic score, in particular, as well as, the hemorrhagic incidence were directly related to the total daily feed intake and to hepatic fatty metamorphosis. The excellent reproducibility of the experimental data from three experiments using gradient doses of force-feeding suggests that the force-feeding technique is adaptable to an assay procedure.