The Zinc Requirement of the Chick ,

Abstract

RECENT research has shown that chickens require zinc as a nutrient for growth as well as normal feathering and skin condition (O’Dell and Savage, 1957a,b; Roberson and Schaible, 1957). However, the minimum and optimum amounts of zinc required in the feed have not as yet been adequately established for the different classes of poultry. Slinger et al. (1956) found that the addition of 50 ppm. of zinc to a basal diet which contained 58 ppm., caused a significant increase in the 4-week weights of male turkeys but a decrease in the weights of females. Mehring et al. (1956) reported that a practical corn-soybean oil meal type diet did not need zinc supplementation. O’Dell and Savage (1957a,b) reported that the addition of 0, 6.6, and 56 ppm. of zinc to a semi-purified diet, which contained 25 percent Drackett protein and 50 ppm. of zinc, resulted in average 4-week weights of 349, . . .