An Abnormality of the Proventriculus and Gizzard of Chicks

NEWBERNE et al. (1956) reported that chicks, fed on purified diets, showed gross distension of the proventriculi and adjacent areas. In the affected birds the area between the proventriculus and the gizzard was dilated and the masculature thinner than normal. O’Dell et al. (1959) also reported that a large proportion of chicks, fed a purified diet, developed an enlarged proventriculus, with failure in growth and development of the gizzard. Although the gizzards were smaller in the affected birds, the masculature appeared normal, but the lining of the gizzards was thicker than normal. The affected birds also had enlarged proventriculi. Corn meal, corn grits or ground wheat prevented this enlargement, but sand or grit did not. The authors did not record their influence upon the gizzard. Creger et al. (1961) fed White Leghorn female chicks raised to maturity and for a 20-week laying period on (1) a purified diet, (2) this…