Mar. i, 1921 Green Feed versus Antiseptics for Growing Chicks 873 



recover somewhat by the age of 14 weeks. The chicks in this lot always 

 seemed more wild and nervous than those of any of the other lots. 



The use of hydrochloric acid in the drinking water of lot 6 seemed to 

 be of some benefit, inasmuch as the mortality was somewhat less than 

 the average and the growth was consistent throughout the experiment. 



Strawboard pulp was supplied to the ration in lots 4 and 5 for the pur- 

 pose of adding bulk and thereby lessening the danger of impaction of the 

 contents of the small intestine and caeca common when feeding a grain 

 ration. It did not seem to aid in reducing mortality. 



Lot 2 was given a litter of oat straw to encourage the chicks to exercise. 

 This did not prove successful in promoting growth, since this lot made 

 the smallest gain of all, nor did it tend to lessen mortality. Lot 1 , which 

 was the control lot, received only the basal ration. As shown in Table I, 

 this ration has proved its efficiency in promoting growth and has also 

 proved its inefficiency in checking mortality, especially during the time 

 between the eighth and fourteenth weeks. 



It will be noted from Table II that in lot 6 and also in lot 7, which 

 received tobacco, the percentage of nitrogen in the feces was lower than 

 in most of the othei lots. Furthermore, it was found that the percentage 

 of nitrogen excreted as uric acid was less, indicating a somewhat greater 

 percentage of utilization of the nitrogen in the feed. 



Lactose, which was added to the ration of lot 9 did not seem to aid in 

 lessening mortality or in promoting growth. This may be due to the 

 fact, as stated by Mendel and Mitchell, 1 that birds, unlike mammals, have 

 no sugar-splitting enzyms in the small intestine; hence the sugar fed 

 was not converted into lactic acid to any considerable extent and thus 

 did not aid in checking intestinal putrefaction. This view is further 

 substantiated in the production of the usual amount of uric acid in the 

 feces, since otherwise nitrogen appearing as uric acid would probably have 

 appeared as a soluble ammonium salt, as noted in lot 6 in Table II, where 

 hydrochloric acid was used in the drinking water. 



SUMMARY 



(1) The tops of sprouted oats seem to be useless as a preventive of 

 digestive disorders or as an aid to the growth of chicks in confinement. 



(2) The analysis of the feces indicated that chicks given hydrochloric 

 acid and tobacco powder produced less uric acid in their feces than did 

 the other lots. 



(3) Tobacco powder added to the ration of growing chicks prevents 

 their normal growth and causes them to be wild and nervous. 



(4) Hydrochloric acid, sulphur, and particularly copper sulphate offer 

 interesting possibilities of success in raising chicks in confinement. 



1 Mendel, Lafayette B., and Mitchell, Philip H. chemical studies on growth- -I. the inverting 



ENZYMES OF THE ALIMENTARY TRACT, ESPECIALLY IN THE EMBRYO, In Amer. Jour. Physiol., V. 20, no. I, 



p. 81-96. 1907. Bibliography, p. 94-96. 



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