Magnesium Requirement of the Chick

ALMQUIST (1942), working with a washed casein, cerelose-type diet containing 40 p.p.m. of magnesium, reported that the addition of 350 p.p.m. of supplemental magnesium produced as good growth rates as any higher level. The author concluded that 350 p.p.m. was a barely adequate supplementary level and stated that the requirement during the first weeks of life was approximately 400 p.p.m. The deficiency symptoms that were observed included convulsions, gasping and a coma which sometimes was fatal but usually ceased in a few minutes. Bird (1946) reported a cerebellum disorder in chicks being fed a washed casein, cerelose diet. Increasing the basal dietary level of MgSO4 to supply 500 p.p.m. (calculated) of elemental magnesium corrected the condition. His description of the deficiency syndrome was very similar to that of Almquist's. Scott et al. (1956) supplemented a cerelose, Drackett-protein diet with 0,50,100, 200, 400, and 600 p.p.m. magnesium. Maximal growth was obtained …