Table 17. — Normal blood values for chickens 



Blood component 



Erythrocytes millions/mm.^ 



Hemoglobin gms./lOO cc. 



Hematocrit percent 



Buffy coat percent 



Thrombocytes mm.' 



Total white cells mm.^ 



Lymphocytes 

 Monocytes. . 

 Heterophils . . 

 Eosinophils . . 

 Basophils . . . 



RPL 1 stock — Single Comb White Leghorns 



Female 



6 weeks 



3.02 

 10. 10 

 30.90 



1.00 



30. 457 

 28,612 



Num- 

 ber 

 per 

 cu. mm. 



23, 328 



1,286 



2,898 



438 



662 



Per. 

 cent 



81.5 

 4.5 



10.1 

 1.5 

 2.3 



12 weeks 



3.02 



9.80 



30.40 



1.00 



26, 254 



31,256 



Num- 

 ber 

 per 

 cu. mm. 



24, 310 



1,542 



3,654 



1,210 



540 



Per- 

 cent 



77.8 

 4.9 



11.7 

 3.9 

 1.7 



Adult 



3.00 



9.70 



30.80 



1. 00 



30, 856 



29, 397 



Num - 



ber 



per 



cu. mm. 



22,371 

 1,663 

 3,917 



728 

 718 



Per- 

 cent 



76.1 



5.7 



13.3 



2.5 



2.4 



Male adult 



3.78 



13. 50 



40.00 



.80 



27, 586 



16, 615 



Num- 

 ber 

 per 

 cu. mm. 



10, 626 



1,065 



4,288 



241 



395 



Per- 

 cent 



64.0 

 6.4 



25.8 

 L4 

 2.4 



Farm stock 



Single Comb 

 White Leg- 

 horns — female 

 adult 



2.96 

 10.70 

 31.90 



37,211 

 28, 863 



Num- 

 ber 

 per 

 cu. mm. 



20, 704 



326 



6,831 



410 



592 



Per- 

 cent 



71.7 

 1.1 



23.7 

 1.4 

 2.1 



Rhode Island 

 Reds — female 

 adult 



2.88 

 11.00 

 30.80 



60,311 

 35, 787 



Num- 

 ber 

 per 

 cu. mm. 



20, 794 

 880 



12,551 



440 



1,121 



Per- 



cent 



58.1 

 2.5 



35.1 

 1.2 

 3.1 



RPL = stock from the L'. S. Regional Poultry Research Laboratory. 



1 . How much value is there in blood determi- 

 nations based on a single bird? 



2. How many birds must be included in one 

 population to give mean values that are signifi- 

 cantly different? 



At present the opinion is held that some types 

 of blood values, for a single bird, offer rela- 

 tively little information about the health of that 

 particular bird. This is particularly true for 

 total white cell and differential counts. 



This is evident not only in chickens but also 

 in other species of birds. Cook and Dearstyne 

 (1934) arrived at an estimate of the importance 

 of the value given by a single count by grouping 

 all counts into classes in a frequency distribution 

 table. This method is more informative than 

 either an average or a range. 



Some types of blood data on chickens gave a 

 narrow range in values for the normal popula- 

 tion. Under such conditions, a wide departure 



Table 18. — Blood values for common mallard 

 duck (adult males) 



[Differential counts in percent] 



' 100 cells counted from each bird. 



216 



Table 19. — Blood values for Canada goose 

 (adult males) 



[Differential counts in percent] 



' 100 cells counted from each bird. 



