- Shrunken body
- Elongated legs
- Overgrown top bill
Another extremely striking symptom was
that although the quills of the
primary and secondary feathers grew to a normal lenght, the quill
sheaths
were unbroken.At least two thirds of the quill shaft was unbroken and
the
feathers just peeped out of the ends as small tufts. I concluded that
this
was Vitamin D deficiency and that there was something wrong with the
chick's
ability to absorb Vitamin D - since the other chicks were doing fine.
It
was, however, a great lesson in what this condition looks like.
Robert Stroud in his 'Stroud's Digest on the Diseases
of Birds'
(page
401) writes as follows:
" Vitamin D is the sunshine Vitamin, produced by the action of sunlight on chemical compounds widely found in the tissues of both animals and plants. It is closely related to Vitamin A - both substances are fat soluble and both are found closely associated in nature. It is produced whenever ultraviolet light (contained in sunlight) shines upon tissues containing the necessary compounds. Visible light plays no part in its production - only ultraviolet light. In temperate latitudes the amount of ultraviolet light which falls on the body of a bird in ten minutes exposure to the noonday sun will manufacture enough Vitamin D to last the bird FOR ONE DAY. Vitamin D IS THE GROWTH VITAMIN. Adult humans and birds can live for a very long time on a very limited supply without serious injury; but all young, growing creatures need LARGE AMOUNTS of Vitamin D. The same is true for adult birds, or humans, during growing periods. The laying hen, or moulting hen, or pregnant woman, will suffer irreperable injury if deprived of this vital substance.The function of Vitamin D has to do with the metabolism of calcium and phosphates. Lack of Vitamin D produces soft-shelled eggs, deformed bones (rickets) and overgrown beaks.
The normal canary chick is hatched with enough Vitamin D in his system to last him about ten to fifteen days. The only two seeds fed to birds which I know to contain appreciable quantities of Vitamin D are hemp seed and sunflower seed; these seeds are also rich in the reproductive vitamin - Vitamin E. But in the amounts in which these seeds are fed to canaries, these seeds DO NOT CONTAIN ENOUGH VITAMIN D to prevent rickets where all other sources (like sunlight) are cut off."
SYMPTOMS
"Lack of Vitamin D produces the condition called 'Rickets'. The skin and flesh become darker in colour, tough and horn-like. The feathers stop growing, become dry and ragged with shrunken quills. The body actually shrinks. The long bones of the legs however continue to grow and the upper beak continues to grow. The overgrown legs and the eagle-like beaks of these babies give them a grotesque appearance. THESE BIRDS ARE CONSTANTLY HUNGRY YET THEIR FOOD DOES NOT DO THEM ANY GOOD. A Young canary which has been fed a diet deficient in Vitamin D will die between the tenth and twentieth day of life - USUALLY ABOUT THE FOURTEENTH DAY. At no time will such a bird ever reach a size greater than the size of a normal bird around the tenth day. The baby chick which receives insufficient Vitamin D, but gets just enough to survive, will in eight weeks of life only about ONE THIRD the growth of a normal chick." END QUOTE
The remedy
is to expose adult birds directly to full sunlight, unfiltered
through glass - (which absorbs the ultraviolet waves)- and to make sure
that the nestlings receive adequate supplies of Vitamin D. Boiled
egg contains Vitamin D but most fanciers in the UK add cod-liver oil to
their feed mix as well; I whizz up three boiled eggs and about an equal
volume of dried egg food mix together in a food processor;
then I add a single teaspoon of mixed cod liver oil and wheat germ oil
to the mix. My birds grow well on this regimen.
I also add a teaspoon of powdered Vitamin Supplement to the above mix-
of which there are many on the market. Here in the UK I use a
brand
called Hormova (made by Harkers) which supplies all the necessary
Vitamins
in the correct proportions. I also have large outside aviaries in which
my young birds are placed one week after they have been weaned - they
spend
hours sun bathing every day.
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