The Treatment of Linseed Meal to Improve its Feeding Value for Chicks

Although linseed meal is used extensively as a feedstuff for livestock, several investigators have shown that it depresses chick growth when fed at levels of 4.5 percent or more of the ration (Ackerson, Blish and Mussehl 1938, Bethke, Bohstedt, Sassaman, Kennard and Eddington 1928, Hammond 1944, Heuser and Norris 1944, Heuser, Norris and McGinnis 1946, Sherwood and Couch 1940, Slinger, Small, Motzok and Marcellus 1943). Amino acid analyses of linseed protein (Grau 1945) show that for the chick, it is deficient in lysine and possibly in methionine. However, if a suitable method for overcoming the detrimental effect of linseed meal could be found, it might become a valuable protein source for chicks. In the course of experiments with linseed meal, a simple treatment was found which greatly improved the meal for poultry feeding. Commercial linseed meal was mixed with three times its weight of water and allowed to stand at . . .