The Protein Requirement of the Turkey Poult

Abstract

THE conservation of protein must be carefully considered in a world with a constantly and rapidly increasing population and an ever-dwindling area of farmland. A good method to conserve protein is to increase the efficiency of that which is used by animals in producing human food. This may be accomplished by feeding only the absolutely essential amount of natural protein and supplementing it with small amounts of materials that allow for the most efficient protein utilization. Probably the first to demonstrate this principle was Völtz (1919), who used synthetic nitrogenous materials to supplement the protein fed to ruminants. More closely allied, perhaps, with the subject of this paper is the work done with the quail (Baldini, 1951). It was found that the quail, which is normally said to require 28 percent protein in its diet (Norris, 1935; Nestler et al., 1942; Stadelman et al., 1945; Baldini et al., 1950), could …