NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS OF GROWING CHICKS: 

 NUTRITIVE DEFICIENCIES OF CORN^ 



By F. E. MUSSEHL, Professor of Poultry Husbandry, J. W. Calvin, Associate Chemist, 

 Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, with the cooperation of D. L. Halber- 

 SLEBEN and R. M. Sandstedt 



Investigators in the field of nutrition have noted that chickens behave 

 unlike rats and swine when limited to rations of com or wheat grains and 

 their products. This fact has made necessary the planning and execu- 

 tion of experimental work having for its object a determination of the 

 values and deficiencies of our common feeding stuffs when used for poultry 

 and egg production. The results of a series of experiments carried on at 

 this Station with this objective are reported in this paper. 



From the experience of investigators ^ who have worked with other 

 species, mainly rats and swine, it has seemed that systematic inquiry 

 should be made into the (a) ash re- 

 quirements, (b) protein requirements 

 (quality and quantity), and (c) food 

 accessory requirements. Earlier in- 

 vestigational work with chicks by 

 Osborne and Mendel ^ and Hart, 

 Halpin, and Steenbock* indicates that 

 another element, (d) the physical 

 factor, is also of fundamental impor- 

 tance and must be considered in any 

 complete study of the nutritive values 

 of a particular grain or ration. 



In our work lo-day-old vS ingle-Comb 

 White Leghorn chicks were used, spe- 

 cial care being taken to select for vigor, 

 vitality, and uniformity in each lot. 

 Nine chicks per lot were used for the 

 first series of experiments. Chicks were weighed individually every 

 seven days, and the growth curves selected are typical of each lot (fig. 

 i-ii). They show the weight of the chicks at the beginning of the 

 experiment and the change in weight thereafter. Records of the feed 



1 Published with the approval of the Director of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. 



'McCoLLUM, E. v., SiMMONDS, N. , and PiTz, W. the relation of the UNroENTiFiBD dietary fac- 

 tors, THE fat-soluble a, AND WATER-SOLUBLE 6, OF THE DIET TO THE GROWTH-PROMOTING PROPERTIES 

 OF MILK. In Jour. Biol. Chem., v. 27, no. i, p. 33-43, 6 charts (1-3, 6 in text). 1916. 



'Osborne, Thomas B. , and Mendel, Lafayette B. the growth of chickens in confinement. In 

 Jour. Biol, chem., v. 33, no. 3, p. 433-438, pi. 4-6. 1918. 



^Hart, E. B., Halpin, J. G., and Steenbock, H. use of synthetic diets in the growth of baby 

 CHICKS. A study of LEG WEAKNESS IN CHICKENS. In Jour. Biol. Chem., v. 43, no. 2, p. 421-442, 2 pi. 1920. 



o 

 100 





/oo 





,3S ^2 



Fig. I.— Graph showing unsatisfactory results 

 from feeding ration of 100 parts yellow com 

 and calcium carbonate grit ad libitum to 

 chicks of lot II. The time at which chicks 

 died is indicated by X. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, 



Washington, D. C. 



zy 



(139) 



Vol. XXII. No. 3 

 Oct. 15, 192 1 

 Key No. Nebr.-4 



