Deficiency Disease of Poultry
Deficiency Disease of Poultry are vitamins, folic acid, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, selenium, etc. Each of these explained in following table.
| Deficiency | Disease | Clinical Signs | Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin A | Retarded growth, weakness, emaciation, ruffled feather, white or stick eyelid, xeropthalamia and reduced egg production and hatchability. | ||
| Vitamin D | Rickets, Rubber Legs | Common in young chickens, 2 to 5 weeks of age. Affected chicks unable to stand and have very soft, pliable, legs and beaks. The rib joints are swollen like beads and curved inward, the breast bone often twisted. In layer birds – soft shelled eggs and a drop in production | |
| Vitamin A | Crazy Chick Disease, Encephalomalacia and Nutritional muscular dystrophy | Affected young chicks appear unable to walk, and fall on their sides or stand with their heads between their legs. | |
| Vitamin K | Prolonged bleeding time subcutaneous hemorrhage on legs, breast and neck and under the wings. | ||
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | Polyneuritis | Retarded growth and appetite. Ataxia, convulsion and death. | |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Curly Toe Paralysis | Young chicks, as early as 1-week-old, exhibit curling of the toes, inability to walk and sometimes diarrhea. | |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | Retarded growth, dermatitis and anemia. Reduced egg production and a decline in hatchability. | pyridoxine at 3-4 mg/kg feed | |
| Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamine) | In young chick – reduced weight gain and feed intake, along with poor feathering and nervous disorders. In Laying hens – reduced egg weight and hatchability | Feeding up to 20 mcg/g feed for 1–2 week. | |
| Niacin (Nicotinic Acid) | Black Tongue | Skin and digestive disorders. Enlargement of the tibiotarsal joint, bowing of the legs, poor feathering, and dermatitis on the head and feet. | Niacin at 30 mg/kg of feed. |
| Folic Acid (Folacin) | Poor feathering, slow growth and perosis. Macrocytic (megaloblastic) anemia and leucopenia | Folic acid supplements of up to 1 mg/kg of feed | |
| Iron and Copper | Anemia, loss of pigmentation in the feathers. Ataxia and spastic paralysis in copper deficiency chicks. | ||
| Manganese | Perosis, chondrodystrophy, thin shelled eggs and poor hatchability. | ||
| Selenium | Exudative diathesis | Unthirftiness and ruffled feathers followed by skin edema | |
| Zinc | Retarded growth, shortening and thickening of leg bones and enlargement of the hock joint, scaling of the skin (especially on the feet), very poor feathering and loss of appetite. |
