Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
The present paper reports the results of experiments which were carried out to obtain information on the types and amounts of the common foodstuffs which should be included in a ration for the prevention of avitaminosis A in swine. The actual vitamin A requirement of swine in terms of carotene was also investigated.
Ten different diets were used and three animals were placed on each. Seven of these diets produced the classical symptoms of avitaminosis A in the animals, two contained minimal or just subminimal amounts of the vitamin, while one appeared to permit storage.
The rations on which the symptoms of avitaminosis A did not appear included maize meal and alfalfa meal. Both these foodstuffs, however, have been shown to produce undesirable effects in the animals at the levels at which they must be fed to prevent the onset of the disease symptoms.