Response of brown hisex chicks to low levels of Jatropha curcas, Ricinus communis or their mixture.

Feeding Jatropha curcas seed at 0.5% of the basic diet for 2 w was not lethal to chicks. In chicks fed 0.5% Ricinus communis seed or a mixture of 0.5% J curcas + 0.5% R communis for 2 w, there was dullness, poor growth, locomotor disturbance and death. Pathological changes were correlated with alterations in clinical chemistry and hematology.