Production of chickens with marginal vitamin A deficiency.
Marginally vitamin A-deficient 1-d-old chickens capable of remaining healthy for at least 6 weeks were produced using a two-generation model. In this model, hens fed on diets with a limited vitamin A content were used to obtain 1-d-old chickens which were marginally deficient in vitamin A. Only hens with a narrow range of plasma retinol values (0.60-0.85 mumol/l) were satisfactory for this purpose. Above this range the 1-d-old chickens were not marginally vitamin A deficient. Below this range egg production and hatchability were affected to some extent depending on the degree of vitamin A deficiency. Even when egg production and hatchability remained at a high level in such birds, the 1-d-old chickens produced were not sufficiently strong to survive the first weeks of life. The advantages of the two-generation model for producing marginally vitamin A-deficient chickens are the increased uniformity and predictability of the chickens with respect to body-weight, general health and vitamin A status. However, it does take about 3 months to produce such chickens.
West
C E
CE
Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands.
Sijtsma
S R
SR
Peters
H P
HP
Rombout
J H
JH
van der Zijpp
A J
AJ
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000378:metabolism*; D004032:Diet; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*
D014801:Vitamin A