VITAMIN B₁₂ SUPPLEMENT
Some years ago, poultry experts discovered one reason why chickens that ran outdoors were superior to those always kept indoors and never allowed to run free. Those permitted to scratch outdoors were benefiting from something in the soil, something derived from animal matter: The scientists called it APF, meaning animal protein factor. They learned to isolate it and to put it into diet supplements for livestock. The results were amazing; poultry grew faster and larger, hatched more eggs, reared more hatchlings, and replaced moulted feathers more quickly.
The scientists then discovered that the most important component of APF for growth and hatchability was a red vitamin, B₁₂. It was found to be one of the most effective therapeutic substances known for its weight. As little as 1/200th of a teaspoon of pure B₁₂ to a ton of livestock feed is considered adequate!
B₁₂ was first isolated from liver by research workers in England. Since then processors have learned to extract it from fermentation products at a more reasonable cost.
The R. T. French Laboratory, noting the effect of B₁₂ on poultry and hogs, began a long series of tests with canaries and parrakeets. French’s had pioneered in the past in packaging bird seed, in air-washing it to remove dust, in eliminating the over-use of hempseed, in producing a balanced bird diet, and in the use of yeast and wheat germ supplements. This Vitamin B₁₂ research was a part of French’s never-ending program of bringing to bird owners the new products and techniques of science as soon as they can be authoritatively documented. A year passed before French’s laboratory reported these four apparent facts:
1. B₁₂ is non-toxic 2. B₁₂ improves the palatability of the food to which it is added (birds like it) 3. B₁₂ promotes feathering 4. B₁₂ hastens the development of young birds.
The significance of the last two points is important to all bird owners. In moulting, for instance, the loss and replacement of feathers is a severe tax on a bird’s general health, and an improperly feathered bird is at a great disadvantage. Furthermore, nutrition experts place great importance on the growth and development which foods produce in young animals and birds. Foods which support the best rates of development are naturally considered the most desirable.
Vitamin B₁₂ was included in the formulas for French’s Bird Biscuit and French’s Nestling Food only after the company had been convinced that the addition of B₁₂ would be a real contribution to canary and parrakeet nutrition. Bird owners will do well to feed vitamin B₁₂ regularly. This can be done by keeping the biscuit in the cage at all times. Sick or run-down birds, in particular, should have the biscuit or the nestling food.