Sawdust in Purified Chick Rations

Abstract

Davis and Briggs (1947) found that the addition of cellulose to a purified experimental chick ration resulted in a significant increase in growth. In order to find a readily available and inexpensive source of cellulose for use in such diets, studies with sawdust were undertaken. Spruce wood flour was fed to chicks at a level of 20.2 percent of the diet by Washington Station workers, as quoted by Ewing (1947), in a practical-type ration without detrimental effects and with reported slight increases of growth at 28 weeks of age when compared with the control group. Guisti (1940) reported that the digestibility of the cellulose of sawdust by chickens averaged 2.33 percent. In the experiments reported herewith, screened (10 mesh) white and yellow pine mixed sawdust was fed at various supplemental levels in a purified diet. Day-old New Hampshire chicks were uniformly divided into groups of 10 birds each and reared . . .