The Effect of Brain Lesions on Feather Release from Young Chickens ,

KING (1921) reported that damaging the medulla oblongata, and in some cases the ventral cerebellum led to a feather releasing effect in young chickens. Klose et al. (1962) reported a 58 percent reduction in the feather-pulling force for the first 15 to 30 seconds after the brain stick killing of mature chickens. The action of certain anesthetizing drugs has also implicated the central nervous system in the feather release mechanism (King, 1921; Huston and May, 1961; Klose et al., 1961, 1962; Knapp and Newell, 1961; and Ostmann et al., 1963). The object of this study was to investigate the influence of stereotaxically placed radio-frequency (rf) lesions in the medulla oblongata and cerebellum and to determine if the effect on feather release would be comparable to that obtained by King (1921). The experimental animals for this study consisted of Arbor Acre male broilers, ranging in age from 8 to 10 weeks. . . .