Nutritional diseases caused by vitamins and minerals deficiencies in broiler

Nutritional diseases caused by deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can significantly impact the health, growth, and performance of broiler chickens. Here are some common nutritional diseases in broilers resulting from deficiencies in vitamins and minerals:

1. Vitamin A Deficiency:

Disease: Vitamin A deficiency can lead to various problems, including poor growth, skeletal abnormalities, reduced immune function, and eye disorders.

Clinical Signs: Reduced appetite, rough feathering, impaired vision, eye abnormalities (e.g., swollen or cloudy corneas), and decreased resistance to infections.

2. Vitamin D Deficiency:

Disease: Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets, a skeletal disorder characterized by soft, weak bones, and deformities.

Clinical Signs: Poor growth, weakness, lameness, bowed legs, and skeletal abnormalities such as twisted limbs or beaks.

3. Vitamin E Deficiency:

Disease: Vitamin E deficiency can lead to muscular dystrophy (also known as “crazy chick disease”), a condition characterized by muscle weakness, paralysis, and sudden death.

Clinical Signs: Weakness, inability to stand, trembling, and sudden death, especially in young broilers.

4. Vitamin B Complex Deficiency:

Disease: Deficiencies in B vitamins (e.g., thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid) can result in various metabolic disorders, nervous system abnormalities, and dermatitis.

Clinical Signs: Poor growth, reduced feed intake, nervous disorders (e.g., leg paralysis, tremors, ataxia), dermatitis, and poor feathering.

5. Calcium and Phosphorus Deficiency:

Disease: Calcium and phosphorus deficiencies can lead to skeletal deformities, poor bone development, and eggshell abnormalities.

Clinical Signs: Soft or thin eggshells, weak bones, leg deformities (e.g., rickets), reduced mobility, and increased susceptibility to fractures.

6. Selenium Deficiency:

Disease: Selenium deficiency can result in nutritional muscular dystrophy (white muscle disease), a condition characterized by degeneration and necrosis of skeletal and cardiac muscles.

Clinical Signs: Weakness, difficulty standing, stiff gait, and muscle degeneration, particularly in breast and leg muscles.

7. Iron Deficiency:

Disease: Iron deficiency anemia can occur in young broilers, leading to pale comb and wattles, weakness, poor growth, and reduced exercise tolerance.

Clinical Signs: Pale mucous membranes (e.g., inside the mouth), lethargy, poor growth, and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

8. Zinc Deficiency:

Disease: Zinc deficiency can result in dermatitis, poor feathering, reduced growth, and impaired immune function.

Clinical Signs: Rough, scaly skin, dermatitis, poor feather quality, reduced growth rate, and increased susceptibility to infections.

9. Iodine Deficiency:

Disease: Iodine deficiency can lead to goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) and thyroid dysfunction, affecting metabolism and growth.

Clinical Signs: Swelling of the thyroid gland (visible as a lump on the neck), poor growth, reduced feed intake, and metabolic disturbances.

10. Copper Deficiency:

Disease: Copper deficiency can cause anemia, impaired growth, and connective tissue abnormalities.

Clinical Signs: Pale mucous membranes, reduced growth rate, poor feathering, and skeletal abnormalities.

Preventing nutritional diseases in broilers requires providing balanced diets that meet their specific vitamin and mineral requirements at different stages of growth and production. Regular monitoring, proper supplementation, and veterinary consultation are essential for maintaining optimal flock health and productivity.