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      Vitamin A nutrition of growing cockatiel chicks (Nymphicus hollandicus).

      1 ,
      Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
      Wiley-Blackwell

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          Abstract

          The experiments examined the physiological response of growing cockatiel chicks to varying levels of dietary vitamin A (VA) or beta-carotene and the rate of liver VA uptake. Adult cockatiels breeding pairs (n=10 pairs) were fed a VA-deficient diet for approximately 90 days prior to onset of egg laying. Breeding pairs were then allowed to feed their chicks diets containing either 0 IU VA/kg, 4000 IU VA/kg, or 2.4 mg beta-carotene/kg. After 5 weeks, chicks fed 0 IU VA developed poor feathering, facial dermatitis and reduced body weight (p<0.05). Liver VA was higher in chicks fed 4,000 IU VA or 2.4 mg beta-carotene vs. those fed 0 IU VA (p<0.05). Duodenal beta-actin and 15,15'-dioxygenase mRNA expression was similar to that of growing chickens, and greatest for cockatiel chicks fed 0 IU VA (p<0.01). Chicks fed 0 IU VA had keratinization of the bursa and oral mucosa, and reduced bursa development and lymphocyte density (p<0.05). Finally, when chicks fed 0 IU VA were orally gavaged with 20 IU VA/g body weight, maximal liver retinol uptake occurred between 0 and 24 h and reached a plateau at 36 h. These data demonstrate that VA deficiency can be prevented with 4,000 IU VA/kg diet or 2.4 mg beta-carotene/kg diet, although beta-carotene conversion to VA may be lower in cockatiels than chickens.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl)
          Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
          Wiley-Blackwell
          0931-2439
          0931-2439
          Dec 2005
          : 89
          : 11-12
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Animal Science Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. ekoutsos@calpoly.edu
          Article
          JPN526
          10.1111/j.1439-0396.2005.00526.x
          16401189
          36bbdd27-9119-4910-9b1e-ac57cf040df1
          History

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