Studies of the Energy Requirements of Chickens

Abstract

THE energy requirement of growing chicks has been studied in two widely different ways. One method is illustrated by the studies of Mitchell, Card and Hamilton (1931) who estimated the net energy requirements for maintenance and growth from the determination of basal metabolic rate and changes in body composition. Data of this kind have been of limited usefulness because of the lack until relatively recently of net energy values for poultry feedstuffs. The other method was used by Robertson, Miller and Heuser (1948) and Panda and Combs (1950). They studied the relationship between productive (net) energy of the ration and early growth rate to determine the minimum energy level per unit weight of the ration necessary to promote the maximum rate of growth. Both of these groups concluded that the minimum productive energy level required for maximum early growth rate was approximately 800–850 Calories per pound of ration on …