Salt Utilization Studies with Poultry

THE sodium requirement of the chick was recently re-evaluated by Nott and Combs (1969). Using a corn-soybean meal basal diet, these workers concluded that a dietary sodium level between 0.11 and 0.13% was adequate for optimum chick growth. Dietary sodium levels between 0.13 and 0.40% did not appear to exert any effect on feed utilization. McWard and Scott (1961) estimated the sodium requirement of young chicks fed a glucose-isolated soybean protein diet to be 0.11%. In earlier work by Burns et al. (1953), it was reported that the chicks’ requirement for sodium was between 0.10 and 0.30%, the higher level being required for maximum growth. The National Research Council (1966) states that the chicks’ requirement for sodium is 0.15, equivalent to 0.38% sodium chloride or common salt. Although a concise review of earlier salt research has been presented by Britzman (1968), no mention was found in the literature of the…