The Value of Menhaden Fish Meal in Practical Broiler Diets

CONSIDERABLE data have been accumulated concerning the value of fish meal as an ingredient for broiler diets. It has been reported that fish meal contains an unidentified factor necessary for maximum chick growth. The literature concerning the unidentified factor contained in fish meal has been extensively reviewed by Menge et al. (1952), Branion and Hill (1953), and Rasmussen et al. (1957). Summers et al. (1959) reported that fish meal was not a satisfactory source of the unidentified factor, and that the unidentified factor response was not influenced by the levels of corn and wheat in the diet. The present experiments were designed to study the value of fish meal in practical broiler diets containing various levels of protein and energy and/or in the presence of different levels of supplemental methionine and glycine. The composition of basal diets used in these experiments is shown in Table 1.…