The most abundant tocopherol is α-tocopherol. This substance constitutes 90% of tocopherols in animal tissues.

Young meadows contain more vitamins than those that have completed the vegetation period. leaves of the plant are 20-30 times richer in vitamins than the stem. losses during the drying process can reach up to 90%.

After oral administration, vitamin E enters the lymph circulation and then the bloodstream from the digestive tract and is transported bound to lipoproteins.

One of the most important effects of vitamin E is oxidation.

It is also reported that Vitamin E plays a role in the synthesis of coenzymes involved in the respiratory mechanism of the cell and vitamin C, participates in the metabolism of sulphurous amino acids, is effective in increasing resistance to diseases, and prevents poisoning caused by some heavy metals together with selenium.

Vitamin E is known to strengthen the immune system in the body, increase resistance against bacterial and viral diseases, and facilitate the absorption, storage and utilisation of vitamin A.

Small amounts of selenium added to feeds supplemented with vitamin E accelerate growth in broiler calves and lambs.

Supplemented with vitamin E and selenium, it is used for the prevention of degenerative diseases such as white muscle disease in the muscles of animals.

Vitamin E is also used for the prevention of udder disease and inability to expel membranes.

The main degenerative diseases encountered in animals with vitamin E deficiency;

White muscle disease in lambs and calves, hepatitis in chicks, exudative diathesis and muscular dystrophy in broilers.

Solid lamb disease characterised by movement disorders and general muscular dystrophy is observed in lambs obtained from pregnant ewes fed vitamin E deficient feed. This disease usually develops in lambs between 2-6 weeks of age and is called white muscle disease because the skeletal muscles develop defects in light coloured areas.

Symptoms seen in vitamin E deficiencies in lambs;

Muscle stiffness, paralysis, increased sensitivity to respiratory diseases and sudden death.

In poultry fed with vitamin E deficient feed, ataxia, tremor, head bending, falling, movement irregularities in leg, wing and neck, fluttering are seen. These symptoms occur in 4-6 week old broilers and may result in death.

CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS

CALCIUM

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the living body and constitutes 1-2 per cent of the total weight.

Of the total calcium in the body, 99% is found in bones and teeth and the remaining 1% in soft tissue and extracellular fluid.

Calcium has a very close relationship with phosphorus and vitamin D.

Calcium plays a role in the formation of skeletons and teeth as a building material, in blood clotting (thrombokinase), in nerve stimulation together with sodium and potassium (via acetylcholine), in cell wall permeability, in enzyme activation, in milk and egg production.

In vitamin D deficiency, even if the ratio and amounts of calcium and phosphorus are within the optimal limit, these elements cannot be utilised properly in the body.

When the calcium level in the blood drops, the parathyroid hormone mobilises the calcium in the bones and ensures that this element reaches a normal level in the blood. On the other hand, when the blood calcium level is slightly elevated, parathyroid secretion decreases and calcitonin secretion increases.  As a result, production of 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D3 decreases, absorption of calcium from the intestine and mobilisation of this element from bones decreases.

In calcium deficiency, growth stops, weakness of bones and teeth, malformation of bones (rickets, osteomalacia), milk and egg production decreases, hypocalcaemia or milk fever occurs, blood clotting decreases and in some cases bleeding occurs, cage fatigue occurs in laying hens, cardiac or respiratory respiratory disorders, muscular dysfunction and tetany, maternal power seeds, constipation, abdominal wall tension, severe nervous reactions occur.

Today, the symptoms of inadequacy probably develop in a short time in chickens and dogs and in a longer time in sheep and sheep.