Clinical signs of rickets were detected in young goats. These included stiffness in gait, tendency of affected animal to lie down, deformity in the bone of fore-limbs, enlargement of both knee joint and costoch ondral junction, while subclinical rickets showed only signs of anorexia and stunted growth rate.
Haematological changes included significant decrease in haemoglobin content, packed cell volume and total erythrocytic count in both clinical and subclinical forms of rickets. Leucocytosis was observed only in goats with clinical rickets.
Biochemicaly, hypoproteinaemia, hypocalcaemia, hypophosphataemia as well as decrease in serum zinc level were observed in both clinical and subclinical rickets, while serum alkaline phosphatase and transamin ases activities were increased. Serum magnesium, copper and iron decreased significantly in clinically affected group. While sodium and potassium lies within normal in both affected groups.
In this trial increased Ca/P ratio (above 2) was taken as an indication for the detection of both clinical and the subclinical rickets.