Choline and Ethanolamine Requirements in the Laying Ration

The choline requirements of laying hens have been reported previously by Lucas, Norris, and Heuser (1946) and Ringrose and Davis (1946). These experiments involved only a limited number of hens fed a synthetic diet for a comparatively short period of time. Their results indicate that choline is a necessary factor in the laying ration, but that most rations either contain sufficient amounts of this ingredient or the hen is able to synthesize enough choline from other precursor compounds carried in the ration. Lucas and his co-workers contended that excellent egg production and hatchability were obtained from hens on practical rations where the choline content averaged as little as .12% of the entire ration. During a routine study to check the efficiency of the K.S.C. All-Purpose ration for supplying adequate amounts of choline to the laying hen, four groups of 90 New Hampshire pullets were fed rations containing choline in varying . . .