AVIAN NUTRITION

By Ron Woodhead
An article from Agapornis News, the Newsletter of: The African Lovebird and Foreign Parrot Society of Qld Inc.

Adequate nutrition is essential for:

A serious deficiency of one of the essential nutrients often results in characteristic signs of disease. However, a partial deficiency may result in non-specific signs such as poor growth or lowered reproductive performance.

The food substances of importance are:

There are some 32 different nutrients required in the nest of birds on a daily basis.

PROTEINS AND AMINO ACIDS

Proteins are composed of approximately 20 nutritionally important amino acids. There are 10 absolutely essential amino acids; Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine.

There are 2 essential amino acids for young birds: Glycine, Proline. The remaining non-essential amino acids can be manufactured by the bird from nitrogenous elements.

It is necessary to add to your birds’ diet the essential amino acids that are growth limiting, if they are deficient. Some multi-vitamin mineral supplements contain some of the essential amino acids. Corn and soybean are deficient in methionine and lysine. Both these amino acids are essential for further growth.

Arginine deficiency causes the wing feathers to curl upwards. It is essential to add Lysine, Methionine and Arginine to your birds’ diet daily. The general effects of protein deficiency are:

Excess protein in your birds’ diet results in visceral gout and over-fat birds. There are available high protein additives which can be fed to your birds during breeding and rearing of young.

CARBOHYDRATES

There is no specific deficiency disease attributed to a lack of dietary carbohydrates.

FATS

Fats are a concentrated source of energy. They provide two essential fatty acids - Linoleic and Arachidonic - which cannot be synthesized by birds. These are important constituents of:

HORMONES - PROSTAGLANDINS

A deficiency of these essential fatty acids results in reduced growth, enlarged fatty livers, and reduced resistance to respiratory disease. Unsaturated fatty acids may undergo oxidative rancidity if not stabilized with anti-oxidants. This results in the destruction of essential fatty acids which reduces amino acid availability and the destruction of vitamins A, D and E and Biotin. The addition of synthetic anti-oxidants to feed supplements protect these essential nutrients from oxidation.

VITAMINS

All recognized vitamins except for vitamin C are dietary essentials for birds. They are required for normal metabolism and health. Many functions as integral parts of vital enzymes. All appear to play various catalytic roles in the many chemical reactions going on within the bird’s body.

A marked deficiency of a single vitamin in the diet of a bird results in the breakdown of the metabolic process in which that particular vitamin in concerned. This causes a vitamin deficiency disease which may exhibit characteristic changes in the bird. Present day poultry rations have added more than adequate amounts of all vitamins to protect birds from possible deficiencies. A deficiency in any one or several vitamins in avian food can result from the type of soil where the crop was grown, the climate conditions under which the crop was grown, the conditions under which the grain is stored, or the type of grain used.

The vitamins most commonly deficient are: A, D, Riboflavin, E, B12, K, Pantothenic Acid, Nicotinic Acid and Choline.

Some of the more commonly occurring vitamin deficiencies cause bone deformities, feather abnormalities, skin conditions, lowered disease resistance, poor fertility and central nervous system abnormalities.

ESSENTIAL INORGANIC ELEMENTS

These are the essential minerals. They are as important as the amino acids and vitamins in maintaining the bird’s life, well-being and reproductive ability. They are essential for bone growth, giving the skeleton its rigidity, and they combine with proteins and fatty acids to make up soft tissue (muscle).

They take part in vital body functions and the transmission of nerve impulses. Minerals are also necessary for the activation of many enzymes of the body.

The essential inorganic elements are: Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Chlorine, Manganese, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Iodine, Molybdenum, Selenium, Fluorine.

Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium and zinc are present in bone. Other essential elements are distributed largely in muscles, other soft tissues and body fluids. Deficiencies of the essential mineral elements result in various disease syndromes such as bone deformities, anaemia, reproductive failure, muscle weakness, poor growth, goitre, dermatitis, and poor feathering.

Mineral deficiencies in grains occur for similar reasons to vitamin deficiencies. Providing a complete vitamin and mineral supplement through the feed or water will prevent such deficiencies affecting your birds.

WATER

Water is of unequalled importance in the metabolism of birds. It acts as a transport medium for other nutrients and products of metabolism and enhances cell reactions. Birds drink only small amounts of water at any one time. A constant supply of fresh, clean water must be provided at all times in your aviary.

To offset possible nutritional deficiencies, we feed a mixture of grains, green feeds and in some cases live food. This however is a non-specific approach. A more positive method is to add vitamin, mineral and amino acid supplements to your birds’ diet either in their food or water in addition to their normal variety of foodstuffs.

Today with the availability of complete mineral, vitamin and essential amino acid and protein supplements, nutritional deficiency diseases should be a thing of the past.