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Studies on an Unidentified Chick Growth Factor in Dehydrated Green Feed*
Studies on an Unidentified Chick Growth Factor in Dehydrated Green Feed* B. MARCH, J. BIELY AND S. P. TOUCHBURN Poultry Nutrition Laboratory,] The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (Received for publication January 4, 1955)
T
* This research was supported in part by Buckerfield's Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. f Contribution Number 85.
"a seasonal variation in growth rate and requirements for an unidentified growth factor found in the juice of forage crops." Chicks grew faster during the months when good range was available to hens. These faster growing chicks showed reduced requirements for the growth factor. Chicks suitable for assay of the unidentified growth factor were obtained when good range was not available to the hens. Kohler and Graham noted that the response of the chicks to forage juice supplementation was most consistent when fish solubles was included in the basal rations. In contrast to the above findings, Fisher et al. (1954) reported no difference between the response of depleted and non-depleted chicks to alfalfa meal, defatted whole liver and whey. In the present study, experiments were conducted in which dehydrated cereal grass and dehydrated alfalfa were used to supplement a purified chick diet. The basal diet was calculated to be complete in all the known vitamins required for normal growth of chicks. The dehydrated green feeds were also tested as joint supplements with herring meal to the basal diet. In order to study the effect of maternal diet on response of chicks to the factor, the chicks used in some of the experiments were from dams which had not been fed green feed in any form from the time they were hatched. EXPERIMENTAL The composition of the basal ration fed was as follows: cerelose 64.0, Drackett protein 25.0, DL-methionine 0.75, glycine 0.4, bonemeal 4.0, manganese sulphate
968
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
HERE is considerable evidence to indicate that in addition to all the known vitamins, chicks require unidentified factors in starting rations. One or more such factors are reported to be present in green feed. Kohler and Graham (1951) found that the press juice of forage contained a growth factor for chicks, and noted that commercial chicks fed a practical type ration responded to the growth factor. In the experiment described the growth factor was apparently destroyed by drying. Subsequently, however, other investigators have reported a growth factor in dehydrated alfalfa. Hansen et al. (1953) and Scott, Fisher and Synder (1953) reported that either dehydrated or sun-cured alfalfa stimulated growth in chicks fed purified diets containing all the known growth factors. Vavich, Wertz and Kemmerer (1953) found that dehydrated alfalfa contained one or more unidentified chick growth factors. They reported further that sardine meal gave a similar stimulus to growth. In the course of several experiments it was noted that the growth stimulating property could not always be demonstrated even with a similar basal diet and the same sample of alfalfa as when a response was obtained. The authors suggest a difference in the initial storage of the growth promoting factor in chicks from different hatches. With regard to the question of differences in carryover of an unidentified factor in forage, Kohler and Graham (1952) demonstrated that commercial chicks showed
UNIDENTIFIED GROWTH FACTOR IN DEHYDRATED GREEN FEED
In Experiments 1 and 2 the growth response of chicks to dehydrated green feed and to herring meal, alone and in combination, was studied. The breeder diet fed the dams was a normal one which included both dehydrated green feed and fish meal. In Experiment 1, New Hampshire cockerel chicks were fed the basal diet for 10 days before they were distributed into standardized lots of 15 chicks each. Similarly in Experiment 2 in which New Hampshire pullet chicks were used, the chicks were fed the basal diet for 1 week and at that time distributed on a weight basis into lots of 17 chicks each. In all experiments the chicks were reared in electrically heated battery brooders with free access to feed and water. The average weights of the chicks in Experiments 1 and 2 are given in Table 1. In Experiments 3, 4 and 5 the chicks used were hatched from breeding stock which had been fed experimental rations with and without dehydrated cereal grass or dehydrated alfalfa from the time of
TABLE 1.—Average weights of undepleted chicks in Experiments 1 and Z
Supplement
Experiment 1 33 days (cockerels) (gms.)
None 5% herring meal 3 % dehydrated cereal grassi 3 % dehydrated alfalfa 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal-t3 % dehydrated alfalfa
Experiment 2 31 days (pullets) (gms.)
424 412 437 418
311 326 354 338
484
375
439
374
hatching. Hens in Pen 1 (control) were fed a breeder ration of the following percentage composition: ground yellow corn 36.375, ground wheat 36.375, soybean oil meal 15.0, herring meal 4.0, meat meal 2.0, dried molasses solubles 3.0, bonemeal 1.5, limestone 1.0, iodized salt 0.5, feeding oil 0.25, and manganese sulphate 0.0125. Hens in Pens 2 and 3 were fed rations of similar composition except for the inclusion of 10 percent of dehydrated cereal grass and 10 percent of dehydrated alfalfa respectively. The dehydrated green feeds were used to replace an equal amount of ground wheat. Scratch grain, a 3:1 mixture of whole wheat and whole oats, was fed in approximately equal amount to the mash. The hens were kept in floor pens on deep litter. In consequence, depletion of any factor which might have been synthesized microbiologically could not be considered rigid. The average weights of the chicks in Experiments 3, 4 and 5 are given in Table 2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In Experiment 1 neither dehydrated green feed nor herring meal used alone stimulated growth. When herring meal was fed in conjunction with dehydrated cereal grass the chicks were significantly
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
0.0125, feeding oil 0.25, corn oil 3.0, ground cellulose 1.0, iodized salt 0.5, potassium chloride 0.8, choline chloride 0.15 lb., niacin 2.27, calcium pantothenate 0.908, riboflavin 0.363, thiamine HC1 0.45, pyridoxine HC1 0.227, inositol 45.4, para amino benzoic acid 4.54, folic acid 0.0908, menadione 0.0908, vitamin Bi 2 0.0024, biotin 0.0092, alpha-tocopherol acetate 0.681, ferric citrate 5.0, copper sulphate 0.5, nickel carbonate 0.025, cobalt acetate 0.05, zinc acetate 0.25 gm. per 100 lb. (in the first two experiments the levels of methionine, glycine and alpha-tocopherol acetate were somewhat lower than indicated above.) Dehydrated green feed and herring meal were added at levels of 3 and 5 percent respectively. The level of protein was adjusted to be similar in all diets.
969
970
B. MARCH, J. BIELY AND S. P. TOUCHBTJRN TABLE 2.—Average weights at 3 weeks of depleted chicks in Experiments 3, 4 and 5
Experiment No. 3
4
Breeder Pen #1 (control) (gms.)
Breeder Pen #2 (cereal grass) (gms.)
Breeder Pen #3 (alfalfa) (gms.)
114 129 192
132 163 159
131 121 205
176
141
168
178 185 204
155 203 191
157 177 191
208
206
191
170 159 204
186 179 197
188 177 215
194
207
196
None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal-f3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa
heavier at 33 days of age than those fed the control diet. The increase in growth rate upon supplementing the control diet with herring meal and dehydrated alfalfa was not statistically significant. In Experiment 2 there was a significant response to dehydrated cereal grass but not to dehydrated alfalfa when these supplements were added to the control diet without herring meal. When a combination of herring meal and either of the dehydrated green feeds was added to the control diet the rate of growth was significantly faster than with the control diet. The data of these two experiments are evidence that herring meal and dehydrated green feed contain separate growth factors for the chick. In addition the response obtained to each of these factors was shown to be affected by the presence of the other in the diet. In Experiments 3, 4 and 5 the chicks were from dams fed experimental diets with and without dehydrated green feed. It will be seen from Table 2 that when the chick rations contained no herring meal or dehydrated green feed the growth rate
of the chicks from Pens 1, 2 and 3 was not the same in the different experiments. In Experiment 3 the chicks from Pen 1 grew at a slower rate than those from Pens 2 and 3. Growth to 3 weeks of the chicks from Pen 1 was considerably faster in the two subsequent experiments. Growth rate was likewise improved in the chicks from Pens 2 and 3 in the latter experiments. In the fourth experiment, however, the rate of growth of the chicks from these two pens was not so fast as the rate of growth of the chicks from Pen 1. In the fifth experiment the growth rate of the chicks was very similar from all three pens. When the chick ration contained no dehydrated green feed there was no response to the herring meal with the chicks from Pen 1 in any of the experiments. With the chicks from Pen 2 (dehydrated cereal grass) there was an improvement in growth rate in Experiments 3 and 4 but no difference in Experiment 5. With the chicks from Pen 3, the addition of herring meal to the ration did not significantly affect growth in any of the experiments. The addition of either dehydrated ce-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
5
Supplement to chick ration
UNIDENTIFIED GROWTH FACTOR IN DEHYDRATED GREEN FEED
Although the maximum growth rate obtained in the course of these three experiments was similar for all tests, at submaximal rates of growth the average weights at 3 weeks varied considerably for chicks
from the same pen and fed the same ration. This was considered as conclusive evidence for a carryover of the growth factor present in dehydrated cereal grass and alfalfa from the dams to the chicks. Data obtained by Slinger, Pepper and Hill (1952) and by Hill et al. (1953) with poults and chicks respectively show that antibiotics and the unidentified factor present in alfalfa juice each exert an effect on the growth response to the other. This indicates that the alfalfa juice factor may be synthesized by intestinal bacteria. In the present experiment the hens, being on deep litter, had ready access to any vitamins synthesized by bacteria in the droppings. The variability in growth rates of the chicks fed the diet not supplemented with dehydrated green feed suggests that the unidentified factor present in dehydrated green feed was synthesized by bacteria in the litter and that the amount of the factor thus available to the hens varied as conditions were more or less favourable for bacterial growth. SUMMARY
Dehydrated cereal grass, dehydrated alfalfa and herring meal have been tested as sources of unidentified growth factors for chicks fed a purified basal diet. Chicks used in the experiments came from two sources: dams fed a normal breeder ration supplemented with dehydrated green feed and dams which had never received green feed in any form. The following observations were made: (1) Separate growth factors for the chick are present in dehydrated green feed and in herring meal. (2) The response to either of these factors is dependent upon the presence of the other in the ration. (3) The unidentified growth factor present in dehydrated green feed is carried over from the dam to the chick.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
real grass or dehydrated alfalfa to the ration supplemented with herring meal improved the rate of growth of chicks hatched from Pen 1 in each of the three tests. There was no significant improvement in the rate of growth when cereal grass was added to a ration containing herring meal and fed to chicks hatched from Pen 2 (cereal grass). Alfalfa added with herring meal improved the rate of growth of chicks hatched from Pen 3 (alfalfa) in Experiments 3 and 4 but the stimulus to growth from the combination of supplements was not significant in Experiment 5. The maximum rate of growth attainable under the experimental conditions imposed was evidently similar for each of the three experiments since the highest lot average was similar in each experiment. In Experiment 3 the only chicks approximating the maximum weight were those from Pens 1 and 3 fed herring meal and dehydrated cereal grass in the ration. No explanation is offered for the lack of response of the chicks from Pen 2 to dehydrated cereal grass in this experiment. The maximum rate of growth was obtained in Experiments 4 and 5 for the chicks from each of the pens when the ration contained both herring meal and either dehydrated cereal grass or dehydrated alfalfa. In Experiment 4 the maximum growth rate was also obtained in the chicks hatched from Pen 2 (cereal grass) which received herring meal but no source of green feed in the ration. This indicated that in this instance there was sufficient carryover of the factor present in dehydrated green feed to permit maximum growth on the ration fortified with herring meal.
971
972
D. A. LIBBY, R. J. EVANS, S. L.. BANDEMER AND P . J . SCHAIBLE REFERENCES
chick growth factor found in leafy green vegetation. Poultry Sci. 30:484-491. Kohler, G. O., and W. R. Graham, Jr., 1952. The seasonal response of chicks to an unidentified growth factor found in forage juice. Poultry Sci. 31:284-286. Scott, H. M., H. Fisher and J. M. Snyder, 1953. Alfalfa meal as a source of unidentified growth factors. Poultry Sci. 32: 555-556. Slinger, S. J., W. F. Pepper and D. C. Hill, 1952. Interaction between penicillin and grass juice concentrates in turkeys. Poultry Sci. 31:187-188. Vavich, M. G., A. Wertz and A. R. Kemmerer, 1953. Growth-stimulating factors in alfalfa for chicks. Poultry Sci. 32:433-436.
Effect of Long-Time Feeding of Certain Arsonic Acids to Chickens* DAVID A. LIBBY, ROBERT JOHN EVANS, SELMA L. BANDEMER AND PHILIP J. SCHAIBLE Departments of Poultry Husbandry and Agricultural Chemistry, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Michigan (Received for publication January 5, 1955)
I
N RECENT years, it has been shown that certain phenylarsonic acid compounds increase growth rate in young chickens and turkeys (Frost 1953; Morehouse 1949). Sometimes the growth response has been in addition to that provided by antibiotics and sometimes it has not (Bird, 1952a). The exact mode of action of these compounds in promoting growth is unknown but indications are that the beneficial effects result from their action upon the intestinal microflora —as is the case with antibiotics. In applying these findings to practical feeds two arsenicals have been incorporated generally in commercial broiler feeds —3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid * Journal article 1705 from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing, Michigan. Acknowledgement is given to the Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois for a grant-in-aid to help finance this research.
("3-nitro") and p-amino phenylarsonic acid (arsanilic acid). Although these chemicals would do the same for flockreplacement pullets as for broilers, they have not been used much for the growing flock because there is less interest in fast, early growth and improved pigmentation in birds intended for egg production. Very little research has been done with arsenicals in the ration of laying birds. Moxon and Wilson (1944) reported that arsenic as sodium arsenite added to the drinking water helped to counteract the toxicity of selenium. This chemical partially prevented the reduction in hatchability of eggs when seleniferous wheat was included in the ration of laying hens. Wharton and Fritz (1953) studied the effect of adding arsanilic acid (45.4 grams per ton of feed) to a normal ration through seven months of egg production. They
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
Fisher, H., H. M. Scott and R. G. Hansen, 19S4. Further studies on the alfalfa factor and its relation to the liver and whey factors. J. Nutrition, 52:13-23. Hansen, R. G., H . M. Scott, B. L. Larson, T. S. Nelson and P. Krichevsky, 1953. Growth stimulation and growth inhibition of chicks fed forage and forage juice concentrate. J. Nutrition, 49: 453-464. Hill, C. H., R. L. Borchers, C. W. Ackerson and F. E. Mussehl, 1953. Studies on chick growth stimulation by alfalfa juice, casein and aureomycin. Poultry Sci. 32: 775-779. Kohler, G. O., and W. R. Graham, Jr., 1951. A
T
* This research was supported in part by Buckerfield's Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. f Contribution Number 85.
"a seasonal variation in growth rate and requirements for an unidentified growth factor found in the juice of forage crops." Chicks grew faster during the months when good range was available to hens. These faster growing chicks showed reduced requirements for the growth factor. Chicks suitable for assay of the unidentified growth factor were obtained when good range was not available to the hens. Kohler and Graham noted that the response of the chicks to forage juice supplementation was most consistent when fish solubles was included in the basal rations. In contrast to the above findings, Fisher et al. (1954) reported no difference between the response of depleted and non-depleted chicks to alfalfa meal, defatted whole liver and whey. In the present study, experiments were conducted in which dehydrated cereal grass and dehydrated alfalfa were used to supplement a purified chick diet. The basal diet was calculated to be complete in all the known vitamins required for normal growth of chicks. The dehydrated green feeds were also tested as joint supplements with herring meal to the basal diet. In order to study the effect of maternal diet on response of chicks to the factor, the chicks used in some of the experiments were from dams which had not been fed green feed in any form from the time they were hatched. EXPERIMENTAL The composition of the basal ration fed was as follows: cerelose 64.0, Drackett protein 25.0, DL-methionine 0.75, glycine 0.4, bonemeal 4.0, manganese sulphate
968
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
HERE is considerable evidence to indicate that in addition to all the known vitamins, chicks require unidentified factors in starting rations. One or more such factors are reported to be present in green feed. Kohler and Graham (1951) found that the press juice of forage contained a growth factor for chicks, and noted that commercial chicks fed a practical type ration responded to the growth factor. In the experiment described the growth factor was apparently destroyed by drying. Subsequently, however, other investigators have reported a growth factor in dehydrated alfalfa. Hansen et al. (1953) and Scott, Fisher and Synder (1953) reported that either dehydrated or sun-cured alfalfa stimulated growth in chicks fed purified diets containing all the known growth factors. Vavich, Wertz and Kemmerer (1953) found that dehydrated alfalfa contained one or more unidentified chick growth factors. They reported further that sardine meal gave a similar stimulus to growth. In the course of several experiments it was noted that the growth stimulating property could not always be demonstrated even with a similar basal diet and the same sample of alfalfa as when a response was obtained. The authors suggest a difference in the initial storage of the growth promoting factor in chicks from different hatches. With regard to the question of differences in carryover of an unidentified factor in forage, Kohler and Graham (1952) demonstrated that commercial chicks showed
UNIDENTIFIED GROWTH FACTOR IN DEHYDRATED GREEN FEED
In Experiments 1 and 2 the growth response of chicks to dehydrated green feed and to herring meal, alone and in combination, was studied. The breeder diet fed the dams was a normal one which included both dehydrated green feed and fish meal. In Experiment 1, New Hampshire cockerel chicks were fed the basal diet for 10 days before they were distributed into standardized lots of 15 chicks each. Similarly in Experiment 2 in which New Hampshire pullet chicks were used, the chicks were fed the basal diet for 1 week and at that time distributed on a weight basis into lots of 17 chicks each. In all experiments the chicks were reared in electrically heated battery brooders with free access to feed and water. The average weights of the chicks in Experiments 1 and 2 are given in Table 1. In Experiments 3, 4 and 5 the chicks used were hatched from breeding stock which had been fed experimental rations with and without dehydrated cereal grass or dehydrated alfalfa from the time of
TABLE 1.—Average weights of undepleted chicks in Experiments 1 and Z
Supplement
Experiment 1 33 days (cockerels) (gms.)
None 5% herring meal 3 % dehydrated cereal grassi 3 % dehydrated alfalfa 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal-t3 % dehydrated alfalfa
Experiment 2 31 days (pullets) (gms.)
424 412 437 418
311 326 354 338
484
375
439
374
hatching. Hens in Pen 1 (control) were fed a breeder ration of the following percentage composition: ground yellow corn 36.375, ground wheat 36.375, soybean oil meal 15.0, herring meal 4.0, meat meal 2.0, dried molasses solubles 3.0, bonemeal 1.5, limestone 1.0, iodized salt 0.5, feeding oil 0.25, and manganese sulphate 0.0125. Hens in Pens 2 and 3 were fed rations of similar composition except for the inclusion of 10 percent of dehydrated cereal grass and 10 percent of dehydrated alfalfa respectively. The dehydrated green feeds were used to replace an equal amount of ground wheat. Scratch grain, a 3:1 mixture of whole wheat and whole oats, was fed in approximately equal amount to the mash. The hens were kept in floor pens on deep litter. In consequence, depletion of any factor which might have been synthesized microbiologically could not be considered rigid. The average weights of the chicks in Experiments 3, 4 and 5 are given in Table 2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In Experiment 1 neither dehydrated green feed nor herring meal used alone stimulated growth. When herring meal was fed in conjunction with dehydrated cereal grass the chicks were significantly
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
0.0125, feeding oil 0.25, corn oil 3.0, ground cellulose 1.0, iodized salt 0.5, potassium chloride 0.8, choline chloride 0.15 lb., niacin 2.27, calcium pantothenate 0.908, riboflavin 0.363, thiamine HC1 0.45, pyridoxine HC1 0.227, inositol 45.4, para amino benzoic acid 4.54, folic acid 0.0908, menadione 0.0908, vitamin Bi 2 0.0024, biotin 0.0092, alpha-tocopherol acetate 0.681, ferric citrate 5.0, copper sulphate 0.5, nickel carbonate 0.025, cobalt acetate 0.05, zinc acetate 0.25 gm. per 100 lb. (in the first two experiments the levels of methionine, glycine and alpha-tocopherol acetate were somewhat lower than indicated above.) Dehydrated green feed and herring meal were added at levels of 3 and 5 percent respectively. The level of protein was adjusted to be similar in all diets.
969
970
B. MARCH, J. BIELY AND S. P. TOUCHBTJRN TABLE 2.—Average weights at 3 weeks of depleted chicks in Experiments 3, 4 and 5
Experiment No. 3
4
Breeder Pen #1 (control) (gms.)
Breeder Pen #2 (cereal grass) (gms.)
Breeder Pen #3 (alfalfa) (gms.)
114 129 192
132 163 159
131 121 205
176
141
168
178 185 204
155 203 191
157 177 191
208
206
191
170 159 204
186 179 197
188 177 215
194
207
196
None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa None 5% herring meal 5% herring meal-f3 % dehydrated cereal grass 5% herring meal+ 3 % dehydrated alfalfa
heavier at 33 days of age than those fed the control diet. The increase in growth rate upon supplementing the control diet with herring meal and dehydrated alfalfa was not statistically significant. In Experiment 2 there was a significant response to dehydrated cereal grass but not to dehydrated alfalfa when these supplements were added to the control diet without herring meal. When a combination of herring meal and either of the dehydrated green feeds was added to the control diet the rate of growth was significantly faster than with the control diet. The data of these two experiments are evidence that herring meal and dehydrated green feed contain separate growth factors for the chick. In addition the response obtained to each of these factors was shown to be affected by the presence of the other in the diet. In Experiments 3, 4 and 5 the chicks were from dams fed experimental diets with and without dehydrated green feed. It will be seen from Table 2 that when the chick rations contained no herring meal or dehydrated green feed the growth rate
of the chicks from Pens 1, 2 and 3 was not the same in the different experiments. In Experiment 3 the chicks from Pen 1 grew at a slower rate than those from Pens 2 and 3. Growth to 3 weeks of the chicks from Pen 1 was considerably faster in the two subsequent experiments. Growth rate was likewise improved in the chicks from Pens 2 and 3 in the latter experiments. In the fourth experiment, however, the rate of growth of the chicks from these two pens was not so fast as the rate of growth of the chicks from Pen 1. In the fifth experiment the growth rate of the chicks was very similar from all three pens. When the chick ration contained no dehydrated green feed there was no response to the herring meal with the chicks from Pen 1 in any of the experiments. With the chicks from Pen 2 (dehydrated cereal grass) there was an improvement in growth rate in Experiments 3 and 4 but no difference in Experiment 5. With the chicks from Pen 3, the addition of herring meal to the ration did not significantly affect growth in any of the experiments. The addition of either dehydrated ce-
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
5
Supplement to chick ration
UNIDENTIFIED GROWTH FACTOR IN DEHYDRATED GREEN FEED
Although the maximum growth rate obtained in the course of these three experiments was similar for all tests, at submaximal rates of growth the average weights at 3 weeks varied considerably for chicks
from the same pen and fed the same ration. This was considered as conclusive evidence for a carryover of the growth factor present in dehydrated cereal grass and alfalfa from the dams to the chicks. Data obtained by Slinger, Pepper and Hill (1952) and by Hill et al. (1953) with poults and chicks respectively show that antibiotics and the unidentified factor present in alfalfa juice each exert an effect on the growth response to the other. This indicates that the alfalfa juice factor may be synthesized by intestinal bacteria. In the present experiment the hens, being on deep litter, had ready access to any vitamins synthesized by bacteria in the droppings. The variability in growth rates of the chicks fed the diet not supplemented with dehydrated green feed suggests that the unidentified factor present in dehydrated green feed was synthesized by bacteria in the litter and that the amount of the factor thus available to the hens varied as conditions were more or less favourable for bacterial growth. SUMMARY
Dehydrated cereal grass, dehydrated alfalfa and herring meal have been tested as sources of unidentified growth factors for chicks fed a purified basal diet. Chicks used in the experiments came from two sources: dams fed a normal breeder ration supplemented with dehydrated green feed and dams which had never received green feed in any form. The following observations were made: (1) Separate growth factors for the chick are present in dehydrated green feed and in herring meal. (2) The response to either of these factors is dependent upon the presence of the other in the ration. (3) The unidentified growth factor present in dehydrated green feed is carried over from the dam to the chick.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
real grass or dehydrated alfalfa to the ration supplemented with herring meal improved the rate of growth of chicks hatched from Pen 1 in each of the three tests. There was no significant improvement in the rate of growth when cereal grass was added to a ration containing herring meal and fed to chicks hatched from Pen 2 (cereal grass). Alfalfa added with herring meal improved the rate of growth of chicks hatched from Pen 3 (alfalfa) in Experiments 3 and 4 but the stimulus to growth from the combination of supplements was not significant in Experiment 5. The maximum rate of growth attainable under the experimental conditions imposed was evidently similar for each of the three experiments since the highest lot average was similar in each experiment. In Experiment 3 the only chicks approximating the maximum weight were those from Pens 1 and 3 fed herring meal and dehydrated cereal grass in the ration. No explanation is offered for the lack of response of the chicks from Pen 2 to dehydrated cereal grass in this experiment. The maximum rate of growth was obtained in Experiments 4 and 5 for the chicks from each of the pens when the ration contained both herring meal and either dehydrated cereal grass or dehydrated alfalfa. In Experiment 4 the maximum growth rate was also obtained in the chicks hatched from Pen 2 (cereal grass) which received herring meal but no source of green feed in the ration. This indicated that in this instance there was sufficient carryover of the factor present in dehydrated green feed to permit maximum growth on the ration fortified with herring meal.
971
972
D. A. LIBBY, R. J. EVANS, S. L.. BANDEMER AND P . J . SCHAIBLE REFERENCES
chick growth factor found in leafy green vegetation. Poultry Sci. 30:484-491. Kohler, G. O., and W. R. Graham, Jr., 1952. The seasonal response of chicks to an unidentified growth factor found in forage juice. Poultry Sci. 31:284-286. Scott, H. M., H. Fisher and J. M. Snyder, 1953. Alfalfa meal as a source of unidentified growth factors. Poultry Sci. 32: 555-556. Slinger, S. J., W. F. Pepper and D. C. Hill, 1952. Interaction between penicillin and grass juice concentrates in turkeys. Poultry Sci. 31:187-188. Vavich, M. G., A. Wertz and A. R. Kemmerer, 1953. Growth-stimulating factors in alfalfa for chicks. Poultry Sci. 32:433-436.
Effect of Long-Time Feeding of Certain Arsonic Acids to Chickens* DAVID A. LIBBY, ROBERT JOHN EVANS, SELMA L. BANDEMER AND PHILIP J. SCHAIBLE Departments of Poultry Husbandry and Agricultural Chemistry, Michigan State College, East Lansing, Michigan (Received for publication January 5, 1955)
I
N RECENT years, it has been shown that certain phenylarsonic acid compounds increase growth rate in young chickens and turkeys (Frost 1953; Morehouse 1949). Sometimes the growth response has been in addition to that provided by antibiotics and sometimes it has not (Bird, 1952a). The exact mode of action of these compounds in promoting growth is unknown but indications are that the beneficial effects result from their action upon the intestinal microflora —as is the case with antibiotics. In applying these findings to practical feeds two arsenicals have been incorporated generally in commercial broiler feeds —3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid * Journal article 1705 from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing, Michigan. Acknowledgement is given to the Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois for a grant-in-aid to help finance this research.
("3-nitro") and p-amino phenylarsonic acid (arsanilic acid). Although these chemicals would do the same for flockreplacement pullets as for broilers, they have not been used much for the growing flock because there is less interest in fast, early growth and improved pigmentation in birds intended for egg production. Very little research has been done with arsenicals in the ration of laying birds. Moxon and Wilson (1944) reported that arsenic as sodium arsenite added to the drinking water helped to counteract the toxicity of selenium. This chemical partially prevented the reduction in hatchability of eggs when seleniferous wheat was included in the ration of laying hens. Wharton and Fritz (1953) studied the effect of adding arsanilic acid (45.4 grams per ton of feed) to a normal ration through seven months of egg production. They
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Univ. of Massachusetts/Amherst Library on May 1, 2015
Fisher, H., H. M. Scott and R. G. Hansen, 19S4. Further studies on the alfalfa factor and its relation to the liver and whey factors. J. Nutrition, 52:13-23. Hansen, R. G., H . M. Scott, B. L. Larson, T. S. Nelson and P. Krichevsky, 1953. Growth stimulation and growth inhibition of chicks fed forage and forage juice concentrate. J. Nutrition, 49: 453-464. Hill, C. H., R. L. Borchers, C. W. Ackerson and F. E. Mussehl, 1953. Studies on chick growth stimulation by alfalfa juice, casein and aureomycin. Poultry Sci. 32: 775-779. Kohler, G. O., and W. R. Graham, Jr., 1951. A