Abstract
Summary
1. According to laboratory records so-called pullet disease ranked second in pathologic importance in Connecticut chickens during the last 4 calendar years.
2. It was characterized in over 2/3 of the cases by kidney damage similar to visceral gout.
3. The “salt effect” resulting from feeding sodium citrate to chicks according to Correll, was found to correspond to experimental visceral gout. 4. The protective action of potassium salts against the “salt effect” was confirmed and shown to hold for simple compounds like potassium chloride or a good agricultural grade of muriate of potash at levels of 1 to 2% in the feed. 5. Molasses due to its potassium content was found to be protective, which rationalizes the corresponding empirical treatment for pullet disease. 6. In a small-scale experiment on spontaneous pullet disease cases, potassium chloride seemed helpful which suggests its use during molasses shortage.
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