Note on Effect on Chick Growth of Feeding Meals Prepared from Flaxseed and Cottonseed Treated with Ammonia Prior to Storage

Abstract

FLAXSEED meal has been shown to be detrimental to growing chicks when fed in levels of 4.5% or more of the ration (Kratzer, Williams, and Baker 1947). According to Kratzer (1946) the value of flaxseed meal for poultry feeding was improved by mixing commercial flaxseed meal with water for 24 hours followed by drying at room temperature. In an investigation of the effect of chemical treatment of high-moisture cottonseed and flaxseed to prevent deterioration during storage, large quantities of these seeds were treated with ammonia, stored for several months, and then processed in commercial mills along with equal quantities of untreated seed which had been stored for the same length of time (Altschul et al. 1946). Samples of meal produced from treated and untreated seed were evaluated as protein supplements in chick diets. It was found that meal from ammonia-treated flaxseed was equal in value to commercial soybean and cottonseed .