A Foot Pad Dermatitis in Turkey Poults Associated with Soybean Meal

Abstract

DERMATITIS in turkey poults is produced by feeding rations deficient in certain vitamins. A dermatitis characterized by lesions on the corners of the mouth and on the eyelids was observed in poults fed a diet deficient in pantothenic acid (Kratzer and Williams, 1948). A deficiency of riboflavin has also been reported to produce a dermatitis in turkey poults (Lepkovsky and Jukes, 1936), but others have failed to observe this in poults fed diets sufficiently deficient to reduce growth rate (Heuser, 1935; and Patrick et al., 1944). A deficiency of biotin produced a dermatitis which appeared first on the foot pads (Patrick et al., 1942). Patrick et al. (1944) fed a purified diet deficient in either biotin or riboflavin to turkey poults and found that dermatitis was prevented by biotin supplementation but not by riboflavin. On the other hand, McGinnis and Carver (1947) observed a dermatitis in poults fed a diet…