QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Russell, W. C. Articles by Derby, J. V. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Russell, W. C. Articles by Derby, J. V., Jr

The Folic Acid Requirement of Turkey Poults on a Purified Diet^1,2,3,

Two Figures

Department of Agricultural Biochemistry, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

The folic acid requirement for normal growth of poults on a purified ration is 2.0 mg per kilogram of feed.

At the 25% and 43% protein levels of the purified ration, 2.0 mg of folic acid per kilogram of feed is required to prevent cervical paralysis. No cervical paralysis occurred in the group which consumed the turkey starting mash.

When the level of folic acid was 2.0 mg per kilogram of feed, normal feathering was observed in the poults receiving the purified diet with 43% protein, but at the same folic acid level those fed the purified diet containing 25% protein showed feathering that was distinctly subnormal.

Although the hemoglobin values for the poults which did not develop cervical paralysis showed no direct relationship to the level of the folic acid supplement on either of the purified diets, they were higher, 11.6–12.7 gm, on the diet containing 43% protein than those on the diet containing 25% protein, 8.8–10.5 gm. Those obtained on the 43% protein diet were essentially of the same order as that observed with the poults on the turkey starting mash. For the birds which developed cervical paralysis, the hemoglobin values were lower and ranged from 5.7 to 7.3 gm per 100 ml of blood.

² This study was made possible by a grant from Lederle Laboratories, Inc., Pearl River, New York.

³ Presented before the Division of Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Atlantic City, New Jersey, April 14–18, 1947.

⁴ Present address: Patuxent Research Refuge, U. S. Department of the Interior, Bowie, Maryland.

Manuscript received 28 July 1947.