Nutritional Myopathy–which can cause chickens to have muscular degeneration or slowed growth–is caused by a lack of vitamin E, along with a deficiency of methionine and cysteine in a flock’s diet. To prevent this from happening to your flock, make sure you feed them a complete, nutritionally-balanced feed, and not just scratch or kitchen scraps. Read on to find out more.
Nutritional MyopathyAlso called
White muscle disease, Nutritional Muscular Dystrophy
Prevalence
Uncommon
Signs General signs –
Muscular degeneration, slow growth.
Cardinal or diagnostic signs –
Muscular degeneration occurs primarily in breast and legs. Necropsy shows white muscle striations.
Cause/s
Vitamin E deficiency paired with a deficiency in methionine and cysteine.
Communicability
Not communicable, but many members of a flock may share this problem if they’re on the same deficient feed.
Communicability to humans
No.
Incubation period
None, but as a deficiency, it takes some time to develop.
Latent
No
Endemic
No
Home treatment and/or prevention
Prevention: Provide a good, fresh, nutritionally-balanced feed for your flock. Don’t make the mistake of offering something like scratch only, or kitchen scraps only.
Treatment: Supplement with vitamin E, Selenium, and the amino acids methionine and cysteine
Veterinary care
A vet can diagnose this problem and suggest good supplements.
Recovery
If the illness is not too far advanced, birds will recover completely with proper nutrition.
Other conditions, illnesses and/or diseases with similar signs:
Can be mistaken for other illnesses causing slow growth or leg problems.
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