Effects of Dietary Vitamin and Mineral Combinations on Production Performance and Immune Response in Pigeons.

BACKGROUND: Pigeon farming represents an important component of the poultry sector in Bangladesh; however, productivity is frequently constrained by infectious diseases, particularly Newcastle disease (ND). OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with different vitamin and mineral combinations on production performance and humoral immune response to ND vaccination in adult pigeons. METHODS: Sixteen pairs of 3-month-old Gola pigeons were randomly assigned to four groups: T0 (basal diet, unvaccinated control), T1 (basal diet supplemented with vitamins A, D and E and selenium), T2 (basal diet supplemented with vitamin B-complex) and T3 (basal diet supplemented with vitamins A, D, E and B-complex and selenium). Birds in T1, T2 and T3 were vaccinated against ND, whereas the control group remained unvaccinated. RESULTS: Body weight, feed intake and egg weight were not significantly affected by treatments (p > 0.05). However, feed conversion ratio and egg production differed significantly (p < 0.05), with higher egg production observed in T1. Hemagglutination inhibition antibody titres differed significantly among groups (p < 0.05), with the highest titre observed in the T1 group (272 ± 16). Most immune organ weights were unaffected, although thymus length and width increased significantly following supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary supplementation with vitamins and selenium had limited effects on growth performance in adult pigeons. However, supplementation with vitamins A, D and E and selenium was associated with improved egg production and enhanced the humoral immune response to ND vaccination. These findings suggest that targeted vitamin-mineral supplementation may be beneficial for improving reproductive performance and vaccine-induced immunity in pigeons.