A Nutritional Deficiency causing Gizzard Erosions in Chicks

Abstract

IT has been demonstrated by Dam^1,2 and by us^3,4 that a dietary disease of chicks, in which the blood fails to clot in normal time and in which extensive hæmorrhage develops, is due to the lack of a new fat-soluble vitamin. Extensive erosion of the gizzard lining has been commonly noted in these investigations^1,2,3,4, but the occurrence of this latter disorder has not been closely correlated with incidence of the hæmorrhagic disease. Gizzard erosion has been frequently found in chickens given the usual practical diets⁵. Such erosions have also been observed at this laboratory in embryos in late incubation stages and in day-old chicks. On the other hand, the hæmorrhagic syndrome has not been reported in chickens reared under practical conditions. In view of these facts, we have investigated gizzard erosion with the object of determining whether it is a true portion of the hæmorrhagic syndrome or a separate disease not caused by deficiency of the antihæmorrhagic vitamin.