The Rural Voice, 1979-12, Page 11birds," Jim MIlar says. "Good stock can
easily run to $40 for a trio - that is - one
male and two females.
"If a young lad takes an interest in
chickens, I'll start him away." he said.
One of the problems with the birds is
bronchitis but parasites would top the list.
Lack of vitamins would run a close second.
Jim adds a mixture of cod liver oil and
molasses to the feed mix and gives his
chickens additional "greens" whenever he
can.
Jim enjoys his birds. Although he
specializes in bantams, he has a pair of
miniature Japanese quail that would sit in
the palm of your hand. Another unique
item . is his zebra finches - small colourful
birds and one pair has just produced a
family of four.
As well as ribbons and awards from the
shows, Jim Millar is a true bird fancier - he
gets a lot of satisfaction "just watching the
birds run a bit in the yard."
Jim is president of the local poultry,
pigeon and pet association. Approximately
42 members meet every third Tuesday of
the month at the OMAF office in Clinton,
he said. The club covers standard chickens,
bantams, pigeons, rabbits, zebra finches,
guinea fowl, cavies, ducks and geese.
Jim says the club is one of the most
progressive in Ontario and is "favourably
watched by other clubs." Club members
range from a retired banker, a school
principal, a barber, farmers, industrial
workers to school children. Two of the
members are accredited judges with the
APA - American Poultry Association. They
are Harvey Daniel, R.R.2, Bluevale, and
Cliff Pepper, Dashwood. Both of them will
be judging at the Royal Winter Fair.
To give you an idea of the scope of the
association's activities - at their last
meeting, a member from Bluevale showed
pictures of his recent trip to British
Honduras, portraying the poultry and
farming industry in that country. Other
meeting topics included poultry diseases
and preparing for a show.
Shows are held twice yearly - the lawn
show in the spring is for club members
only. Often, there are 100 entrants when all
the members bring their birds and
animals; it also provides a social time for
everyone.
The fall .how is open to everyone and is
held in Woodstock. A bulletin, published
monthly, contains news of coming events,
educational material and a laugh or two.
Jim is in charge of his publication and his
Scottish humour shows through on the
back page where he has a joke or a funny
saying for the members. He says everyone
reads the back page first.
Jim Millar is the first to say that the
birds are not a money making venture but
his enjoyment and satisfaction from them
is obvious.
Mice serve a purpose
BY BEV BROWN
Can you imagine paying 85c each for a L
supply of mice and then another 15c each r
to have them shipped to you from
Montreal? Farmers can't but if you were a 1
medical researcher at the University of t
Western Ontario, this is what you would
have to pay to secure mice for your
experiments. But these are not your
ordinary barnyard mice. The most com- t
monly used mouse in medical research is
the. Albino Swiss Mouse, according to
Dr. Dean H. Percy, Director of Laboratory
Animal Services for the University of
Western Ontario . These can be obtained
from Canadian BreedingLabs, Montreal or
from Biobreeding Labs in Ottawa.
"If you were doing research on muscular
dystrophy, you would have to order special
dystrophic mice from Jackson Labs in Bar
Harbour, Maine," explained Dr. Percy,
"which were listed in 1978 at $16.50 each
(American dollars) or $20.60 for a breeding
pair. These mice spontaneously develop
weak limbs and therefore only a small
number survive to weaning, which ac-
counts for the high cost." The breeding
labs put out a catalogue listing various
mice with different genetic problems,
diabetic mice, mice who develop breast
tumors, etc. each one having a special use
in medical research.
But the life style of the popular Albino
Swiss Mouse is considerably different from
your barn mouse. First of all, he is raised in
specialized breeding labs where the temp-
erature is maintained at 70-72 degrees F.
and the humidity at 50 per cent all year
round. The air conditioning system pro-
vides 15 air changes per hour plus pressure
barriers so that air from one room cannot
contaminate another room.
Commercial breeders of mice are not
allowed to supply mice to a research
establishment in Ontario unless they are
licensed under the Animals for Research
Act. Anyone raising laboratory animals can
join the Canadian Association for Lab
Animal Science by taking oral and written
qualifying examinations.
Researchers want to be supplied with
healthy, two - month - old mice so the
breeders must have a good disease control
programme. Currently, the main disease
threatening mice seems to be Sendai Virus
Pneumonia, a respiratory disease similar to
influen;.a. It is spread from mouse to
mouse though saliva or nasal secretions.
Mice can also develop diarrhea.
Leukemia is very common in some
strains of mice and for this reason,
researchers know far more about the
causes of leukemia in mice than they know
about what causes leukemia in humans.
eukemia in mice is virus related and
esearchers are continuing ther studies
with mice in the hope that more can be
earned about this dread disease. Bret
umors are common in mice and these are
also virus related.
Mice attain sexual maturity in six to
eight weeks from birth. At this time, four
o six mature females are placed in a
plastic cage with one mature male. (If you
put two mature male mice in the same
cage, they will often fight to death.) The
gestation period for mice is 19 to 21 days.
As soon as a female shows that she is
pregnant, she is removed to a special
littering cage where she will produce
anywhere from eight to 14 pups (what baby
mice are called) depending on the strain.
She is observed during her first and second
litters to see if she is a good mother, has
lots of milk and does not produce runts. If
her track record is good, she is allowed to
continue to produce for one year.
The life span of a mouse is one to two
and a half years, but they seldom live over
two years and a year- and -a -half -old mouse
is considered old. Dr. Percy said that feed
has a profound affect on the length of life of
the mouse. Mice at the U.W.O. labs are
fed a commercial mouse ration and have
free access to feed and water at all times.
Dr. Percy commented that "one interest-
ing experiment showed that if we restricted
the feed by a small amount, the mouse
lived longer. Perhaps this indicates that
humans would live longer if they ate a little
less food."
It costs three cents per mouse per day to
board mice at the University labs. Dr.
Percy said that researchers are hopeful
that the information obtained from exper-
iments with mice can give a better
understanding of the mechanisms involved
in the immune response in humans. An
active kidney transplant group at the
University Hospital is experimenting with
mice to find better ways to prevent graft
rejection.
Another area of concernto the research-
ers is the reason why the immune response
decreases or becomes impaired in older
individuals. They already know that if the
body is able to recognize the abnormality of
cancer cells, then these will be rejected.
Older mice, those aged a year and a half,
are being used for this research.
So the next time you set a trap for that
pesky kitchen mouse or curse the barn
mice for eating your feed supplies,
remember that the mouse has some very
valuable cousins, whose contribution to
medical research may some day save your
life.
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1979 PG. 9