The coat changes of an experimental group of four undernourished Shorthorn heifers have been compared with those of a control group of four well-fed heifers.

Low nutrition impeded seasonal shedding in three of the four experimental animals, and the hair which was retained into the summer months appeared lifeless and bleached. One animal's hair and shedding were normal, despite low nutrition.

Two animals of the control group also partially retained their hair in the summer, but it was of normal colour, good lustre, and vital appearance.

It is concluded that plane of nutrition influences shedding, though some individuals within a breed are less affected than others. Two distinct varieties of coat retention were observed: one was of nutritional origin, the other inherent. Possible explanations of the differences are suggested.

Coles (1957) has reported the results of a hatchability trial in which four pens of hens each received 10% of a different sample offish meal (A–D) in their diet as the only experimental variable. There was a high level of egg production in each pen, but differences in hatchability as indicated in Table 1. The pen with lowest hatchability received fish meal D, which was darker in colour than the others. It was suggested that this might indicate a scorching of the meal with heat damage, and that in turn this might be responsible for the lower hatchability. The meals have now been analysed to investigate this point.