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The Effect of Supplementary Iodine on the Nutritive Value of Chick Rations

Four Figures

Research Laboratories, The E. L. Patch Company, Boston, Massachusetts

Five pens of thirty Rhode Island Red chicks were fed a high quality chick growing mash from hatching to 12 weeks of age under standardized laboratory conditions. The mash for four pens was supplemented with 18.8 mg., 37.5 mg., 75.0 mg. and 93.8 mg. of KI per kilogram of mash.

Observations were made on the growth, physical appearance and mash consumption of the chicks; the nutritive efficiency of the mashes; the bone growth and the hemoglobin content of the blood when the chicks were 12 weeks of age.

The results obtained were somewhat irregular. The final weight of the chicks did not vary consistently with the amount of iodine fed. The mash consumption was greatest for the pen receiving the most KI. The physical appearance was similar for all pens. The nutritive efficiency for mash C, to which was added 37.5 mg. of KI, was higher than that of the mashes which contained more or less KI. The length and diameter was greatest for tibiae from the chicks that received the most KI. On the other hand, the heaviest tibiae were from pen B and the ash content was larger for chicks from pen C than for those chicks which received more or less KI. The internal structure of the tibiae showed the same degree of development for all pens. The hemoglobin content of the blood of the 12-week-old chicks was greatest for the control pen.

The variations in the results obtained for the different experimental pens with respect to growth, mash consumption, physical appearance of the birds, nutritive efficiency of the mashes, the size and composition of the bones, the internal structure of the tibiae, and the hemoglobin content of the blood do not appear to be highly significant, since these variations are not materially larger than might occur for two ‘control’ pens maintained under comparable conditions.

These results show that the amounts of KI fed as a supplement to the control ration did not significantly enhance its nutritive value. Since the chicks which received the control ration grew exceptionally well and showed satisfactory development in all respects, it would appear that the control ration contained an adequate supply of iodine to meet the needs of rapidly growing chicks.