Abstract
Conclusions
From these results we conclude that one of the factors responsible for the higher erythrocyte number in male fowl is the presence of androgen while the lower number in the female is caused either by a lack of an adequate amount of androgen or by the presence of estrogen. The mechanism by which the increase is brought about is not known, but the decrease may be due to deposition of endosteal bone which would interfere with erythropoiesis 5 , 6 The results obtained from combined androgen and estrogen injections are not conclusive, although there is some indication that the stimulating effect of androgen on red cell formation is inhibited in some way by estrogen.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.