STUDY OF SOME POULTRY FEED MIXTURES WITH 

 REFERENCE TO THEIR POTENTIAL ACIDITY AND 

 THEIR POTENTIAL ALKALINITY: I 1 



By B. F. Kaupp, Investigator and Pathologist, and J. E. IvEy, Assistant in Poultry 

 Husbandry, Research Laboratory of the Office of Poultry Investigations and Pathology, 

 North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station 



HISTORICAL REVIEW 



Interest in the acid-base balance of dietaries has increased greatly in 

 recent years. Sherman and his collaborators pointed out the basis for 

 work of this kind when they made more accurate determinations than 

 had hitherto been available of the ash constituents of the common feeds. 



Sherman 2 has shown that meats and cereals have a preponderance of 

 acid-forming elements, whereas, on the other hand, fruits and vegetables 

 have an excess of base-forming elements. 



It has been shown that ash has an influence on the reaction of the 

 urine. Acid-forming feeds lead to the formation of more acid urines, 

 and base-forming feeds cause the excretion of less acid or of alkaline 

 urines. However, it has been found in studies carried on with men that 

 certain exceptions were found — namely, plums, prunes, and cranberries, 

 which, although yielding a basic ash, nevertheless increase the acid 

 excretion because of the presence of benzoic acid, excreted as hippuric 

 acid. 3 



Although the question whether or not an acid-forming diet eaten for 

 some period of time is productive of undesirable results is debatable, 

 probably the concensus of opinion is in favor of diets in which the acid- 

 forming and base-forming elements are approximately balanced. The 

 possibility that the continued use of acid-forming diets may lead to a 

 greater susceptibility to disease of the less infectious type has seemed 

 worthy of investigation. 4 Work along this line is in progress in this 

 laboratory. Sour milk and buttermilk function as base because when 

 used by the body the lactic acid is oxidized to carbonic acid, which is 

 thrown off by the lungs, leaving a base residue of mineral salts. A 

 common defect is the use of quantities of proteins and fats far in excess 

 of the needs of the body. Proteins and fats are relatively expensive 

 materials. 



> This paper deals with the flocks for the first 24 weeks. Part II will deal with the first laying year. 

 s Sherman, Henry C food products, ix, 594 p., illus. New York, 1919. 



8 Blatherwick, N. R. the specific role of foods in relation to the composition op thr urine. 

 In Arch. Int. Med., v. 14, p. 409-450. 1914. 

 'Htndhede, M. protein and nutrition ... p. 8. London, 1913. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. XX, No. 2 



Washington. D. C Oct. 15, 1920 



v f Key No. N. C-14 



(HI) 



