Poultry Medicine: Nutritional Disease Flashcards
What are broilers? When are they marketed?
meat-type breed of chicken - White Plymouth Rock, Cornish
6-9 weeks of age at 4.5-5 lbs
What 4 vaccines are recommended for broiler chickens?
- Marek’s disease - SQ
- Newcastle disease - coarse spray, water
- infectious bronchitis - coarse spray, water
- infectious bursal disease - coarse spray, water
What are layer chickens? What are the 2 classifications?
female chickens used for table eggs - Leghorn hybrids
- Pullet - sexually immature female used as a replacement layer
- Hen - sexually mature
When do hens begin laying eggs? How long are they incubated?
18-20 weeks of age –> produce 250-310 eggs per laying cycle
21 days
When are layers stimulated to molt? How? Why?
stimulated to molt at 6 weeks old my decreasing photoperiod
get it done before laying so they can put all energy into laying eggs
How long are laying flocks held in production?
until they are 75 weeks of age
What 6 vaccines are recommended for laying chickens?
- Marek’s disease - SQ
- Newcastle disease + infectious bronchitis - water, coarse spray, aerosol, parenteral
- infectious bursal disease - water
- laryngotracheitis - intraocular drops
- fowl pox - wing web injection
- encephalomyelitis - wing web injection
What turkey breeds are used in the turkey industry?
- Large White/Broad Breasted White
- Holland White
- Beltsville White
typically debeaked to decrease cannibalism, unable to breed naturally
What 3 types of turkeys are used in the turkey industry?
- poult - young sexually immature
- tom - males, marketed at 19-20 weeks, weighing 28-30 lbs
- hens - females, marketed at 14 weeks, weighing 14-16 lbs
What 3 vaccines are recommended for turkeys?
- Newcastle disease - water, spray
- hemorrhagic enteritis - water
- fowl cholera - water, SQ
What breeds of duck are used in the industry?
- White Pekin
- Rouen
- Muscovy
used for meat, eggs, feathers, and pest control
When are Pekin and Rouen ducks marketed?
7-9 weeks –> 6-7 lbs
5 months
When are broilers/fryers, roasters, and mature/old ducks marketed?
8 weeks, 5-6.5 lbs
16 weeks, 7-8 lbs
over 6 months, meat used in processed products
What breeds are most commonly used in the goose industry?
Emden and Toulouse
used for meat, down for pillows, grass control, guards, show
What is a male and female goose called? When are goslings and young geese marketed?
gander, goose
marketed in the fall at 24-30 weeks, 11-15 lbs
marketed at 10-13 weeks, 10-12 lbs (fed for rapid growth)
What breeds are most commonly used in the quail industry? When are the processed?
Bobwhite, Coturnix/Japanese –> used for eggs and meat, chicks debeaked
when mature at 16 weeks, 3-7 oz
When are pheasants marketed?
16-18 weeks
used mostly for meat +/- hunt clubs, eggs, feathers
What are the 4 important components to poultry nutrition?
- ENERGY - grains, grain byproduct, molasses, vegetable/animal fat
- PROTEIN - soybean meal (+ other plant meal), fish meal, meat meal
- VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTATION
- MINERALS - Ca, P, salt
(corn meal, alfalfa meal, corn gluten meal produce yellow color of skin and yolk)
What birds are most commonly affected by Ca, P, and vitamin D deficiencies? What lesions are associated?
young poults 3-6 weeks of age in backyard/hobby flocks
RICKETS - rubbery/soft bones and beak, enlarged joints, beaded ribs
What clinical signs are associated with rickets in poultry? How is it diagnosed? Treated?
lameness, stunted growth, poor feathering
gross/microscopic description of bones, feed analysis
supplement Ca, P, and Vitamin D3, balance diet
What do Ca, P, and vitamin D3 deficiencies cause in older poultry? Why?
cage layer fatigue in adult hens (osteoporosis)
higher Ca requirement needed for laying eggs, resulting in Ca resoprtion from bones
What 5 signs are associated with cage layer fatigue?
- thin-shelled eggs with low hatchability
- panting
- spread wings
- prostration
- paralysis, death
What 4 lesions are associated with manganese deficiency? What treatment is recommended?
- perosis - shortening and rotation of long bones
- joint swelling –> lameness
- displacement of gastrocnemius tendon
- thin-shelled, poorly hatched eggs
manganese supplementation - corrects egg and hatchability issues, not leg deformities
What can salt deficiency cause in poultry? What is a characteristic sign?
- poor growth
- decreased appetite and water intake
- ascites, decreased plasma fluid volume
- softened bones
- adrenal hypertrophy
- decreased CO/MAP
- reduced utilization of protein and energy
falling forward when startled with legs stretched out behind
What occurs with salt toxicity in the absence and with adequate water?
ABSENCE OF WATER = rapid dehydration and death
WITH WATER = diarrhea, PD, dyspnea, weakness, mucoid discharge from beak
What 3 things does a zinc deficiency cause in poultry?
- perosis and decreased growth
- hyperkeratosis of foot pads and poor feathering
- decreased egg production and hatchability - mortality mid-incubation –> skeletal abnormalities
What 5 signs are associated with selenium deficiency in younger birds? In older birds?
5-11 weeks
- exudative crusting
- unthriftiness
- ruffled feathers
- edema - weeping skin
- skin bruises/scabs easily
decreased egg production/hatchability and feed conversion
What 6 clinical signs are associated with vitamin A deficiency in chicks?
- anorexia, emaciation
- stunted growth
- drowsiness
- weakness
- incoordination
- ruffled feathers
What are signs of severe and chronic deficiencies of vitamin A in chicks?
SEVERE = ataxia
CHRONIC = pustules of esophagus MM, uric acid deposits within kidneys (obstruction!)
What is characteristic of vitamin A deficiency in adult poultry?
squamous metaplasia and hyperkeratinization of secretory/glandular epithelium —> pustules in oropharynx, serous/casous ocular discharge
What are 2 major causes of vitamin E deficiency in poultry?
- feeding rancid diets - cod liver oil, soybean oil
- diets grown in selenium-deficient soil (Colorado)
What 4 clinical signs are associated with vitamin E deficiency?
- encephalomalacia - 2-3 weeks old (crazy chick disease) - ataxia, flexed toes/legs, torticollis, red necrotic lesions in cerebellum
- exudative diathesis - edema accumulates over breast area
- muscular dystrophy - degeneration of muscle fibers (white muscle disease)
- decreased reproductive success
When is vitamin K deficiency observed in poultry? What signs are associated?
not until 3 weeks of age
prolonged coagulation times –> hemorrhage under the skin and in liver, erosion of ventriculus lining
What is indicative of vitamin B12 deficiency? How can it be prevented?
decreased hatchability - embryo mortality peaks at 18 days, edematous, hemorrhagic, chondrodystrophy
use feedstuffs from animal origin or add cobalamin supplement
Which poultry are most severely affected by niacin deficiency? What signs are seen?
turkeys, ducks, pheasants, goslings
severe bowing of legs and enlargement of hock joint
What signs are seen with chicks and hens with niacin deficiencies?
tongue, oral cavity, and esophagus inflammation –> black tongue
weight loss, decreased egg production and hatchability
What are 7 clinical signs associated with pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) deficiencies?
- stunted growth and ruffled feathers
- ocular exudates cause eyelids to stick together
- scabs around the beak and bottom of feet
- depigmentation of feathers
- feather loss on head and neck
- myelin degeneration of spinal cord
- decreased hatchability in layers
Which vitamin is most likely to be deficient in commercial chicken feed? What does this affect? What 6 signs are seen in chicks?
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) –> epithelium and myelin sheath of brachial and sciatic nerves
- stunted growth with appropriate appetite
- emaciated, weak
- diarrhea
- reluctant to move
- leg muscle atrophy
- dry skin
What tissues does a folic acid deficiency affect? What signs are seen in adult poultry and chicks?
tissues with rapid turnover - GIT, epidermis, BM
macrocytic anemia and leukopenia –> comb becomes a white waxy color + pale MM / embryos with deformed beaks and tibiotarsal bending
stunted growth, poor feathering/pigmentation, chondrodystrophy, increased mortality
What is the most common group of poultry affected by folic acid deficiencies?
poults –> cervical paralysis
What unique sign is indicative of biotin deficiencies in chicks/poults? Adults?
feet, eyelid, and beak dermatitis +/- broken flight feathers, leg bone bending, fatty liver and kidney syndrome (death)
decreased hatchability –> chondrodystrophy, syndactyly, micromelia in embryos
What is the most common sign of thiamin deficiency in chickens?
opisthotonus
- rare!
