Pathology of experimental vitamin D deficiency in turkeys and the effects of various vitamin D supplements

One-day-old poults fed a vitamin D3-deficient diet were examined for clinical, biochemical, and morphological changes at 14 days of age. Changes in these parameters were compared at 15.5 and 17 days of age after one of the following vitamin D-replacement therapies was provided: water-soluble vitamin-mineral packs that contained vitamin D3; vitamin D3 in the feed; or vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the feed. The vitamin D3-deficient poults were lame and had significant decreases in weight gain and in longitudinal skeletal growth. None of the therapies alleviated all these changes, but clinical lameness subsided in poults provided 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Calcium concentrations were significantly improved by all therapies. Treatment with vitamin D3 in the feed and water significantly increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 concentrations in vitamin D-deficient poults. The growth plate zones, with the exception of the mineralized hypertrophied zone, were all increased in length and not modified by treatment. However, the mineralized hypertrophied zones in the 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 group and the group receiving vitamin D3 in the water were comparable to that in the controls on day 15.5.