Effect of Ascorbic Acid Injections on the Amount in the Blood Plasma of Laying Hens

Abstract

EARLIER papers of this series have been concerned with the ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of chickens and laying hens fed typical poultry rations. Holmes, Tripp, and Satterfield (1938), reported that the ascorbic acid content of plasma of rapidly growing eight-week old Rhode Island Red chicks varied from 1.56 mg. to 2.23 mg., and averaged 2.04 mg. percent, whereas that of 12-week old chicks varied from 1.46 mg. to 2.43 mg., and averaged 2.05 mg. percent. They found no consistent relationship between the plasma ascorbic acid values of the different sexes. Later these authors (1939) studied the ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of Rhode Island Red pullets which received a typical poultry ration during a 15-month laying period. The ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of the pullets at the various stages of the experiment was 1.84 mg. percent at the beginning of the laying .