This introductory, review presentation is a prologue to four full-length symposium presentations. Estimates of the annual cost of skeletal problems in poultry and definitions of noninfectious skeletal diseases in poultry are the focus of this article. Losses due to skeletal problems in poultry are caused by an increase in mortality and the number of cull birds, increased condemnations from septicemia-toxemia, and more downgrading from the trimming of breasts and legs. Reduced feed conversion and rate of gain also occur. Estimated annual losses in the United States due to skeletal problems are $80 to $120 million in broilers, and $32 to $40 million in turkeys. Eleven skeletal problems in poultry are described, and synonyms, symptoms, and possible causes of each are presented. These diseases include long bone distortion, tibial dyschondroplasia, rickets, spondylolisthesis, degeneration of the femoral head, spraddled legs, chondrodystrophy, osteomyelitis and synovitis, Mycoplasma synoviae infection, viral arthritis, and footpad dermatitis.
