Vitamin D is necessary for regulating calcium and phosphorus minerals in the body. Vitamin D works synergistically with calcium and phosphorus to keep birds healthy, especially in maintaining a strong bone structure.
For most birds, sun exposure is a simple and reliable way to obtain vitamin D. Sunlight can quickly restore adequate vitamin D levels. During sun exposure, vitamin D is stored in fat and then released when the sun disappears. Exposure to the sun two to three times a week can cause the skin to produce enough vitamin D. However, it also varies with age, season, time of day, and other factors (such as a colored partition on the windows). Old birds may also have fewer "receptors" in the skin that convert sunlight into vitamin D, and because of the aging of the kidneys, it is more difficult to absorb and convert dietary vitamin D into useful forms.
Calcium deficiency in rearing birds is very common, often because the birds look forward to staying indoors, leading to a deficiency of vitamin D and failing to help absorb calcium.
Bird vitamin D poisoning
Although vitamin D is very important, it is dangerous to add vitamin D indiscriminately! If there is too much vitamin D in the body, it can cause poisoning. Vitamin D is also converted into calcium in the body. Therefore, if a bird already has the required amount of calcium, plus additional vitamin D, it will eventually produce too much calcium in the blood. The parrot family is relatively prone to vitamin D poisoning, especially macaws.
Vitamin D poisoning can cause kidney damage. The accumulated vitamin D and calcium accumulate in the kidneys, preventing the organs from functioning normally. The disease caused by kidney damage is gout.
Therefore, giving the birds a balanced diet and avoiding excessive use of other nutritional supplements or excessive "supplement" can prevent vitamin D poisoning.