Mineral Content of Southern Poultry Feeds 35' 
hand, fruits and vegetables have an excess of base forming elements. 
The influence of excessive acid feeds, or excessive alkaline feeds upon 
the body, has been proven by the feeding of highly acid feeds which 
increase acid urines and excessive feeding of alkaline feeds, which pro¬ 
duce an excess of alkaline urines. 
There is evidence that excess acid forming diets eaten for some 
period of time is productive of undesirable results and there is a pos¬ 
sibility that the continued feeding of acid-forming diets may lead to a 
greater susceptibility to disease. 
A common defect is the feeding of proteins and fats far in excess of 
the body’s needs, and as fats and proteins are expensive materials, 
work is in progress in this laboratory to determine just the smallest 
amounts of proper kinds of proteins and the feeds that contain just these 
desired proteins with their proper amino-acids. 
OUR PRESENT PROBLEM 
In the work that is presented here our problem was to determine 
the potential acidity and potential alkalinity of these feeds based on 
previous mineral analyses. So far as we know this has never been done 
for poultry feeds. Our second problem was to determine the acid-base 
balance of the feed mixtures used in our experimental feeding work in 
broiler prduction, giving some of the feeding results and suggesting 
ways of overcoming excess acidity of feeds.* 
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS 
The baby chicks were produced from a single flock of pure-bred 
Single Comb White Leghorns bred at the Station and College poultry 
plant, and hatched in the same incubator. Each lot was housed under 
similar oil burner hovers of 100-chick capacity. The experiment was 
carried on in periods of eight weeks each, and extended over 3 periods, 
or 24 weeks. 
The samples of feeds for analysis were obtained, as composite samples, 
from the various bags of feed used in the experiment. 
The potential acidity and potential alkalinity was estimated from 
the mineral analysis of the above feed samples. 
*This same work is now progressing with laying hens. 
