Salt Additions to Chick Rations

EXPERIMENTAL evidence on the amount of salt required by chicks varies considerably. Salt functions in various ways and this may have some bearing upon the levels recommended. Mitchell and Carman (1926) reported that chicks fed a cereal diet, deficient in salt, showed retarded growth. Prentice (1933) also showed that rations containing no salt produced poor growth. In both cases the results were attributed to a deficiency of sodium. Sjollema (1935) reported poor growth on rations low in sodium and estimated the sodium requirements at 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent for the first month and 0.3 percent to 0.35 percent for the second month. Burns, Cravens, Phillips and Halpin (1950) showed an interrelationship between sodium and potassium. On semi-purified diets about 0.08 percent sodium was sufficient with 0.74 percent potassium to produce optimum growth, but if potassium intake dropped to 0.30 percent about 0.15 percent sodium was required to produce the . . .