Studies on the requirement of the young chick for vitamin E

The effects of different sources and levels of dietary starch on gain weight body vitamin E storage The exact requirement of poultry for vitamin E under practical feeding conditions has not been established. It has been suggested by Blaxter & Brown (1952) that it is unwise to state absolute dietary requirements, since the needs at any time depend on the combination of current stress factors, dietary, physiological and environmental. Investigations into the vitamin E requirement of young chicks have centred round the study of nutritional encephalomalacia and exudative diathesis. However, it was first pointed out by Dam (1944) and later confirmed by Zacharias, Goldhaber & Kinsey (1950) and Singsen, Matterson, Kozeff, Bunnell & Jungherr (1954) that exudative diathesis and encephalomalacia could be induced or suppressed by dietary changes unrelated to the tocopherol content of the diet. The introduction of so-called dietary stress factors has generally involved the fat and fatty-acid components of the diet. Little attention has been paid to the diet's carbohydrate fraction as such.