Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 4/24/2008

Question
QUESTION: what are expected effects of injected testosterone and estrogen in chicks and chickens?

ANSWER: Query:  Do you mean what is the effect on humans of eating steroid injected chickens?  Or what is the effect on the chickens?

If you will clarify, I'll try to help you.

FM Rollwagen, PhD

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What is the effect on the baby chicks? What will the testosterone do to them and what will the estrogen do to them?

Answer
Generally speaking, injection of sex steroid hormones in immature species accelerates their sexual development.  Baby chicks will mature faster into adult hens.

In addition, injection of estrogen into chickens has been shown to

Decrease in red cell count:
http://www.pjbs.org/ijps/fin464.pdf

Decrease Iron absorption:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/2w3428v528j7mk43/

Show harmful effects on the liver:
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/264/12/6612.pdf
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/264/12/6612
http://www.emro.who.int/publications/EMHJ/0102/12.htm

Decreased height and increased liver weight:
http://es.epa.gov/ncer/science/endocrine/pdf/wildlife/r826298_lasley-032305-fina

Changes in vitamin D metabolism:
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/235/3/E338



For testosterone, much less is known, since poultry growers don’t use it as much in food chickens.

It has been shown to reduce body weight and liver weight:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1437979

Reductions in immune response:
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/11/6/654.pdf

You can follow the links to the original data and get more information on this subject.

I hope this answer has helped you.  Please write back if you have more questions.

FM Rollwagen, PhD