The effect of a Fusarium roseum culture and diacetoxyscirpenol on reproduction of White Leghorn females.

White Leghorn females in egg production (36 weeks old) were fed a culture of Fusarium roseum containing 15 ppm diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) and other unidentified toxins at culture levels of 0, 1, and 2% of the diet for 8 weeks. Following this, all hens were placed on control (0% toxins) feed for 6 weeks. Birds were inseminated weekly with .05 ml of pooled semen from males given normal diets. The F. roseum had no significant effect on body weight change or egg weights. During the initial 8 weeks, egg production was significantly depressed by both the 1 and 2% levels whereas feed consumption, fertility, and hatchability of fertile eggs was reduced only by the 2% level of F. roseum. Moreover, the majority of embryo mortality occurred prior to the 7th day of incubation. All production levels returned to normal when the toxins were removed during the final 6 weeks. In a second experiment, control (0%), .5 ppm purified DAS, and 3% F. roseum culture were fed to White Leghorn females (50 weeks old) for 4 weeks followed by a 2-week withdrawal period when all birds were given control diets. In 4 weeks, hatchability of fertile eggs was reduced 24% by DAS and 99% by the culture of F. roseum but returned to normal after the toxins were removed. Other production indices were unaffected by dietary treatment. The DAS appears to be only partially responsible for the reduced hatchability; the major toxicant has not been identified.