A review of the causes of gout and uiolithiasis in chickens and how to prevent these economically costly disorders. High selection pressure to maximise production has led to some metabolic problems in today's broilers and layers, so that commercialbirds are now more prone to disorders like gout, urolithiasis, ascites and Sudden Death Syndrome. These conditions cause severe economic losses to the chicken farmers. In urolithiasis, large urate crystals/stones are deposited in the ureters. The condition is primarily noticed in pullets and caged laying hens and it leads to reduced egg production and increased mortality. This condition is usually accompanied by visceral urate deposits, i.e. visceral gout. Urolithiasis causes losses both in terms of reduced productivity and increased mortality. Visceral gout has been recorded as early as in day-old chicks and the incidence is higher in broilers than layers. Among the laying birds, it is more common in pullets, usually starting at 14 weeks of age. For layers, mortality can be up to 1 percent per week and the affected flock continues to suffer throughout life. In broilers, outbreaks lead to 2-3 percent mortality.
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