Are super dose concentrations of vitamin E really necessary for reproduction in birds?

Citation

McClements R, Ward A. 2007. Are super dose concentrations of vitamin E really necessary for reproduction in birds?. In Ward A, Hunt A, Maslanka M, Eds. Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Knoxville, TN.

Abstract

Vitamin E requirements for exotic avian species remain undetermined and await investigation. As a result, diets formulated for captive exotic birds rely on the development of target ranges and feeding guidelines in order to minimize the risk of developing deficiencies and/or toxicities. These target ranges are commonly based on the requirements of domestic poultry, with the addition of calculation factors assumed to provide dietary concentrations at safe levels. It would be generally accepted, by many avian specialists, that these target ranges have reduced the incidence of vitamin E-induced pathogenesis in most species, especially in the past ten years. Nevertheless, considering the recommendations are often ten-times the requirements of domestic poultry, are the current supplementation practices significantly overemphasizing the actual dietary requirement? And if so, does it make physiological and metabolic sense to maintain offering dietary concentrations higher than probable requirements based on historical ‘bestpractices’ and presumed reproductive gain?

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