Descriptions of materials and methods are presented in detail in the original papers. The following comprises a summary of the major experimental procedures and materials. However, the methods related to unpublished original data are presented in detail in this chapter.
Five species of birds were used in the experiments: grey partridge (Perdix perdix) (I, II), domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) (II), Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) (II, III, IV, V), domestic pigeon (Columba livia) (II) and Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos) (III). The age of the birds used varied from newly hatched to 39-day-old. Pigeons bred in outdoor aviaries and nestlings were fed and taken care of by their parents. The eggs of the other species used were incubated artificially and the hatched chicks were kept indoors (photoperiod 12L:12D) in plywood pens warmed by infrared lamps.