The Value of Fish Solubles and a Vitamin B12-Antibiotic Supplement in Chicken and Turkey Mash Mixtures Containing Ten Percent Meat Scraps

THE discovery of vitamin B12 in 1948 and the emphasis on the so-called APF supplements made it seen desirable to determine the value of additional vitamin B12 in the form of fish solubles in experimental rations used on the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station poultry farm. These rations contained 10 percent of meat scraps which it had been assumed would supply the necessary animal protein factor. They were being used to start and grow chicks and turkey poults and also for the production of market and hatching eggs. The first series of tests reported upon in this paper cover studies of the value of adding 3 percent of condensed fish solubles to two basal rations containing 10 percent of meat scraps and differing primarily only in the carbohydrate supplements. A second series of experiments reported upon in this paper were designed to study the influence of a vitamin B12-antibiotic supplement …