Effects of gamma-irradiation on survival, growth and productivity of broiler chicken

In experiments with broiler chicken the influence of gamma-irradiation (137Cs) to survive and productivity of meat poultry was studied. LD50/30 increased from 10.0 to 18.7 Gy with increasing of the age of the irradiated chicken from 3 to 40 days and reduced from 18.3 to 11.9 Gy with increasing of a dose rate from 1.0 to 40.0 Gy/h. As a rule, death of chicken was observed between 4th and 15th days after the exposure; the most early dates of poultry death were found at irradiation dose rate of 40.0 Gy/h. The exposure to doses of 8-20 Gy resulted in stunted growth; in comparison with control group the mass reduced by 22-32 g per each 1 Gy, lowering of meat productivity by 36%.