The use of different quantities of dried skimmed milk and riboflavin supplement in chick rations

Dried skimmed milk is generally considered to be a desirable ingredient of chick diets; this opinion is reflected in the present Ministry of Food Regulations, which require that Baby Chick Mash shall contain at least 6% of dried skimmed milk, except that it is permissible to replace each 1% of dried milk products by 1/2% of unextracted dried yeast. In view of the scarcity and high price of both of these materials, an investigation was carried out to determine the effects of reducing the level of dried skimmed milk in a Baby Chick Mash and substituting varying amounts of a riboflavin supplement. The results obtained indicate that, under the conditions of these experiments, the level of dried skimmed milk may be reduced to 3% of the diet, or omitted entirely, without significantly affecting growth rate, food consumption, feathering, or general health of the chick up to 10 weeks of age, provided that adequate riboflavin supplement is added to the mash. The chicks receiving neither dried skimmed milk nor riboflavin supplement in their diet showed a somewhat poorer growth‐rate which was particularly evident in both experiments at 5–6 weeks of age. However, the difference in mean body weight between chicks on this basal diet and the other groups was only significant at 6 weeks of age in the second experiment. In general, feathering was poorer and mortality higher among the birds receiving the diet with neither dried skimmed milk nor riboflavin supplement. In both experiments there were indications that dried skimmed milk was most effective during the first six weeks of the chick's life.