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Salmonella and Campylobacter are considered major public health burdens worldwide, and poultry are known to be one of the main reservoirs for these zoonotic pathogens. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a commercial probiotic or direct-fed microbial (DFM) Calsporin (CSP), and prebiotic or mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) (IMW50) on ultrastructural changes and the villous integrity of intestinal mucosa in turkey poults challenged with Salmonella and Campylobacter. A 21-day battery cage study was conducted using 4 dietary treatments including a basal diet (corn and soybean–based) nonsupplemented and uninfected as a negative control (NC); basal diet supplemented with 0.05% DFM (CSP); basal diet supplemented with 0.05% MOS (IMW50); and basal diet supplemented with 0.05% mixture of DFM and MOS at equal proportions. Female large white turkey poults aged 336 days were obtained from a local commercial hatchery and randomly distributed in electrically heated battery cages with 12 treatments of 4 replicates per treatment containing 7 poults per pen. The first 16 pens were not infected with bacteria, poults in pens 17-32 were orally challenged at day 7 with 105 cfu Salmonella Heidelberg, and the poults in pens 33-48 were orally challenged at day 7 with 105 cfu Campylobacter jejuni. Feed and water were provided ad libitum throughout the study. At day 21, ileal tissue samples from 1 bird per cage were collected for intestinal integrity and ultrastructural examination by scanning and electron microscopy. DFM and MOS supplementation was effective in both challenged and nonchallenged (not infected with Salmonella and Campylobacter) birds. Goblet cells and mucus were increased, with the presence of large numbers of segmented filamentous bacteria in DFM- and MOS-supplemented groups compared with birds in control treatments. The number and size of villi were reduced in poults exposed to Salmonella and Campylobacter. Results show that CSP and IMW50 provide protection of ileal mucosal integrity in poults exposed to Salmonella or Campylobacter.

This study was conducted to test the effects of dietary supplementation of feed grade L-Met on growth performance and redox status of turkey poults compared with the use of conventional DL-Met. Three hundred and eighty five newly hatched turkey poults were weighed and allotted to 5 treatments in a completely randomized design and the birds were fed dietary treatments for 28 d, including a basal diet (BD), the BD + 0.17 or 0.33% DL-Met or L-Met (representing 60, 75, and 90% of the requirement by National Research Council (NRC) for S containing AA, respectively). Increasing Met supplementation from 0 to 0.33% increased (P

Appropriate ventilation of poultry facilities is critical for achieving optimum performance. Ventilation promotes good air exchange to remove harmful gases, excessive heat, moisture, and particulate matter. In a turkey brooder barn, carbon dioxide (CO2) may be present at higher levels during the winter due to reduced ventilation rates to maintain high temperatures. This higher CO2 may negatively affect turkey poult performance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of subjecting tom turkey poults (commercial Large White Hybrid Converters) to different constant levels of atmospheric CO2 on their growth performance and behavior. In three consecutive replicate trials, a total of 552 poults were weighed post-hatch and randomly placed in 3 environmental control chambers, with 60 (Trial 1) and 62 (Trials 2 and 3) poults housed per chamber. They were reared with standard temperature and humidity levels for 3 wks. The poults were exposed to 3 different fixed CO2 concentrations of 2,000, 4,000, and 6,000 ppm throughout each trial. Following each trial (replicate), the CO2 treatments were switched and assigned to a different chamber in order to expose each treatment to each chamber. At the end of each trial, all poults were sent to a local turkey producer to finish growout. For each trial, individual body weight and group feed intake were measured, and mortality and behavioral movement were recorded. Wk 3 and cumulative body weight gain of poults housed at 2,000 ppm CO2 was greater (P < 0.05) than those exposed to 4,000 and 6,000 ppm CO2. Feed intake and feed conversion were unaffected by the different CO2 concentrations. No significant difference in poult mortality was found between treatments. In addition, no effect of CO2 treatments was evident in the incidence of spontaneous turkey cardiomyopathy for turkeys processed at 19 wk of age. Poults housed at the lower CO2 level (2,000 ppm) demonstrated reduced movement compared with those exposed to the 2 higher CO2 concentrations.

A study was conducted to determine 1) the effect of a dietary direct-fed microbial (DFM) on turkey poult performance, 2) the effect of a DFM on a Salmonella challenge, and 3) the effect of feed processing on the efficacy of the dietary DFM. Day-of-hatch Large White female poults were placed in 2 rooms in 2 Petersime batteries per room. Twelve pens of 7 birds each were used in each battery (24 pens per room, 336 birds total). One of 4 dietary feed treatments was assigned to each pen (6 pens per room for each diet). One room housed non-Salmonella-challenged poults, and the other room housed poults challenged with a 1-mL oral gavage of Salmonella (1010 cfu/mL). A single batch of starter ration was split into 4 parts and used to provide 4 dietary treatments: 1) mash feed with no DFM (M), 2) mash feed with DFM (Primalac; 0.9 kg/tonne of feed, MD), 3) pelleted (20-s steam conditioning at 80°C) and crumbled feed with no DFM (C), and 4) pelleted and crumbled feed with DFM (CD). Feed and deionized, distilled water were provided ad libitum. Data were collected and analyzed separately for each room. Mortality was recorded for each pen on a daily basis and totaled by week and for the 3-wk period. Individual BW and feed consumption, by pen, were measured weekly. Weekly and cumulative BW gains and feed to gain ratios (F:G) were calculated. Liver, spleen, total and lower intestinal tract weights, intestinal length, and most-probable-number Salmonella populations were determined for one randomly selected bird per pen. Feeding processed feed resulted in improved BW and F:G. Feeding the DFM improved 3-wk cumulative F:G in birds not gavaged and reduced relative intestinal weight in birds gavaged. Salmonella populations were reduced 1 log by feeding DFM. Dietary DFM improved bird performance, reduced Salmonella populations, and was not affected by feed processing.

Ileal endogenous amino acid (IEAA) flow in turkey poults was determined at 2 experimental locations on d 5, 15, and 21 posthatch using 3 methods, namely a N-free diet (NFD), a highly digestible protein (casein), and the regression method, obtained by regressing IEAA flow against dietary casein levels. The diets were semipurified and contained 0, 50, 100, or 150 g of casein/kg of diet as the sole source of dietary protein. Each diet was fed for 5 d to 6 replicate cages of 30 (d 5), 10 (d 15), or 8 (d 21) birds per cage. There was no interaction between locations and age or locations and diet, so the data from both locations were pooled. Ileal endogenous amino acid flow on d 5 (NFD method) was higher (P0.05) than on d 15 or 21. Ileal endogenous amino acid flow estimated from the NFD and the regression methods was different on d 5 (P0.05), but there were no differences in IEAA flow for most of the amino acids on d 15 and 21. Increasing the level of casein resulted in a linear (P0.05) increase in IEAA flow. The amino acids with the lowest flow were Trp and Met, whereas Glu had the greatest flow. The results obtained from this study indicate that data generated across laboratories were repeatable. The results also suggest that about twice as much amino acids of endogenous origin are found in the digesta of poults on d 5 relative to d 21. Also, as poults age, there is a decrease in IEAA flow from d 5 to 15, but flows from d 15 to 21 are not different. These observations suggest that apparent digestibility coefficients for poults on d 5 and d 15 or 21 could be significantly influenced by the level of endogenous amino acids, more so on d 5.

The macrolide gamithromycin (GAM) has the ability to accumulate in tissues of the respiratory tract. Consequently, GAM might be a suitable antibiotic to treat bacterial respiratory infections in poultry, such as Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale. As O. rhinotracheale infections are common in turkey flocks, the aim of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of GAM in plasma, lung tissue, and pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF) of turkeys and to correlate them with pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics (PK/PD). The animal experiment was performed with 64 turkeys, which received either a subcutaneous (SC, n = 32) or an oral (PO, n = 32) bolus of 6 mg GAM/kg body weight (BW). GAM concentrations in plasma, lung tissue, and PELF were measured at different time points post administration (p.a.), and PK characteristics were determined using non-compartmental modeling. The maximum plasma concentration after PO administration was ten-fold lower than after SC injection (0.087 and 0.89 mu g/mL, respectively), whereas there was no difference in lung concentrations between both routes of administration. However, lung concentrations at day 1 p.a. were significantly higher than plasma levels for both routes of administration (2.22 and 3.66 mu g/g for PO and SC, respectively). Consequently, lung/plasma ratios were high, up to 50 and 80 after PO and SC administration, respectively. GAM could not be detected in PELF, although this might be attributed to the collection method of PELF in birds. The GAM minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for 38 O. rhinotracheale strains; MIC50 and MIC90 were 2 and >32 mu g/mL, respectively. PK/PD correlation for lung tissue demonstrated that the time above the MIC90 of the susceptible population (2 mu g/mL) was 1 day after PO bolus and 3.5 days after SC administration. The area under the curve (AUClast)/MIC ratios for lung tissue after SC and PO administration were 233 and 90, respectively. To conclude, GAM is highly distributed to lung tissue in turkey poults, suggesting that it has the potential to be used to treat respiratory infections such as O. rhinotracheale.

In this study, 2 experiments determined the effects of increasing dietary concentrations of de- oxynivalenol (DON) on performance, intestinal mor- phology, and measures of innate immunity in broilers and turkeys. For experiment 1, the 3-wk study used 5 concentrations of DON (up to 18 or 10 mg of DON/kg of feed in broilers or turkeys, respectively) from natu- rally contaminated corn. The BW gains were cubically or quadratically affected by the increasing dietary con- centrations of DON for broilers and turkeys, respective- ly; however, feed consumption was not affected. For ex- periment 2, the birds were subsequently injected or not injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 24 h before tis- sue and blood sample collection. Dietary DON had no effect on intestinal crypt depth, but linearly increased the mid-ileal villus height in broilers (P = 0.04). An in- teraction was observed between the LPS challenge and the dietary DON with regards to heterophil to lympho- cyte ratio (P < 0.05) in broilers, but not in turkeys. The cecal tonsil cell phagocytosis of microbeads was not affected by the dietary concentration of DON either with or without the subsequent LPS challenge for both broilers and turkeys. Conversely, the phagocytic capac- ity of cecal tonsil cells to engulf killed Staphylococcus aureus was significantly reduced (over 2.5-fold) when broilers were fed the highest concentration of dietary DON (non-LPS-challenged; P < 0.05). However, diets containing DON showed no effects on broilers when they were challenged with LPS. Antibody-dependent phagocytosis (S. aureus) was not affected in turkeys fed DON. Overall, corn naturally contaminated with up to 18 or 10 mg/kg of DON (broiler or turkey, respectively) reduced bird BW gain at 21 d of age, reduced antibody- dependent phagocytosis of previously killed S. aureus by cecal tonsil cells in non-LPS-challenged broilers, and greatly decreased heterophil to lymphocyte ratios in LPS-challenged broilers.

Ileal endogenous amino acid (IEAA) and total amino acid (TAA) flow (mg/kg of DM intake) in turkey poults and broiler chicks at 3 ages (5, 15, and 21 d) were compared by feeding a N-free diet (NFD) or graded levels of casein (highly digestible protein, HDP). The semipurified diets contained 0 (NFD), 50, 100, or 150 g of casein/kg of diet as the only source of amino acids. Each diet was fed to 6 replicate cages containing 30 (5 d), 10 (15 d), or 8 (21 d) birds per cage for 5 d prior to the collection of ileal digesta. At d 5, IEAA and TAA flow in poults fed the NFD, 50, and 100 g of casein/kg of diet was higher (P0.05) than in chicks. The IEAA flows within and between both species on d 15 and 21 were not different. Similar trends were observed for the HDP diets (50, 100, or 150 g of casein/kg of diet). An interaction (P0.05) between species and age was observed for most of the amino acids for all treatments. The results from this study suggest that at d 5, poults have significantly higher concentration of IEAA and TAA output relative to chicks. However, by d 15 and 21, there were no species differences in IEAA or TAA flow. These results also showed that IEAA flow is species and age dependent. The increased IEAA flow observed at d 5 should be taken into consideration when formulating starter diets on a digestible amino acid basis.

The present study examines whether Salmonella typhimurium colonization of the crop of young turkeys influences nitrite concentration in the component tissues of the crop. Nitric oxide (NO) is the principal compound in biological samples that is converted into nitrites and NO is known to be a component of the early host response to infection. Challenge with S. typhimurium increased the concentration of nitrite in the crop wall of 3-wk-old turkey poults. The magnitude of the response was reduced at 8 h and absent at 48 h after challenge. As would be expected, S. typhimurium concentrations in the crop were markedly increased following challenge, and were nondetectable in control poults.

Turkey poults and Pekin ducklings hatch from eggs of similar weights and have the same incubation periods and body weights at hatch. The male Pekin duckling, however, can attain a market weight of 3.2 kg in approximately 6 wk, whereas at the same age, male turkeys only weigh approximately 2.1 kg. For this study, fertile turkey eggs (n = 400, mean weight: 87.2 g, range: 85 to 89.9 g) and Pekin duck eggs (n = 565, mean weight: 88.6 g, range: 85 to 92.0 g) were weighed and incubated. Embryos and hatchlings were sampled during the last week of incubation, at hatch, and through 7 d of age. Yolk-free BW of poults were 2.7 g heavier than ducklings at hatch. Yolk-free BW of ducklings, however, were greater than poults at 1 d of age (P > or = 0.06), and by 7 d of age ducklings were 140 g heavier (P < or = 0.01). Yolk sac weight was similar at 21 and 25 d of incubation, yet was significantly lower in ducks at hatch, 1, and 2 d of age (P < or = 0.05). In the duckling, jejunum and ileum weights (3.7x heavier), length (1.6x longer), and density (g/cm; 2.3x more dense) were consistently heavier than in the turkey from hatch through 7 d (P < or = 0.01). Histological sections of the distal jejunum revealed more rapid villus growth in the duck from 0 to 3 d of age. The combination of increased intestinal growth (weight and length) and maturation (villus length) allowed ducks to achieve an additional 143 g of BW gain during the critical hatch through 7 d of growth.

The effect was studied of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25-(OH)2 D3] at various levels of vitamin D3, with adequate or inadequate dietary calcium, on performance and bone development in turkey poults. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 lasted 16 days and was a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement using a low calcium diet (.7%), with dietary levels of vitamin D3 of 450, 900, 1,800, and 3,600 ICU/kg of diet and with or without 10 μg of dietary l,25-(OH)2 D3. Experiment 2 lasted 14 wk and was a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with vitamin D3 levels of 900 or 2,700 ICU/kg of diet, calcium levels at 58 or 100% of the National Research Council requirement (which varies with age), and with or without 10 μg/kg of dietary l,25-(OH)2 D3. In Experiment 1, increasing levels of vitamin D3 and l,25-(OH)2 D3 supplementation significantly increased bone ash. Pairwise contrasts at specific vitamin D3 levels indicated that this effect of l,25-(OH)2 D3 was greater at lower levels of vitamin D3. In Experiment 2, the 2,700-ICU level of vitamin D3 decreased the incidence of rickets at 3 wk and partially ameliorated a calcium deficiency, as indicated by an increase in growth at the 2,700-ICU level of vitamin D3 in calcium-deficient diets from 8 to 14 wk. Vitamin D3 by calcium interactions on rickets at 14 wk of age and bone ash at 3 and 14 wk were similar and indicated also that vitamin D3 partially ameliorated a calcium deficiency. In general, the addition to the diet of 1,25-(OH)2 D3 increased bone ash and decreased the incidence of rickets in diets deficient in calcium but high in vitamin D3. There is very little evidence in the present study that indicates that 1,25-(OH)2 D3 has any effect on tibial dyschondroplasia.

A study was undertaken to assess the role of sex and age on the adrenal cortical response of turkey poults during the time period associated with idiopathic poult mortality. Three and 14-day-old tom and hen turkey poults were subjected to the following treatments: saline injection (control), cool water immersion (20 C) for 1 min, cold water immersion (5 C) for 1 min, and 1 IU/kg adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) injection. Blood was collected 1 and 4 h posttreatment for plasma corticosterone (CS) assay. Temperature treatments did not affect plasma CS in either age or sex. Plasma CS was increased by ACTH after 4 h postinjection in both sexes and at both ages. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortical axis of the turkey poult was functional but appeared to be insensitive to temperature stress.

Duplicate groups of Strain-Cross White Leghorn chicks, White Rock Cross broiler chicks, and Large White Turkey poults were fed from 0 to 800 ppm fluoride as NaF for 1 day to 6 weeks. Based on growth rate, the dietary fluoride tolerances were at least 400 ppm for Leghorn chicks, 300 ppm for broiler chicks, and 200 ppm for turkey poults. Fluoride ingestion did not affect bone morphology or breaking strength. Increases in fluoride content of bone ash, plasma, and other soft tissues were related to dietary fluoride level but not to type of bird. Bone ash fluoride content was relatively constant at a given fluoride intake level over exposure periods of from 2 to 6 weeks.

Feed taken from a commercial turkey farm where poults had refused to eat the feed and high mortality had occurred was analyzed and found to contain .81 mg/kg vomitoxin and 2.2 mg/kg salinomycin. The present four experiments investigated the effects of diets containing salinomycin at 0, 2.2, 5.5, 11, and 22 mg/kg and vomitoxin at 0, 2.2, and 4.4 mg/kg. A factorial design with vomitoxin at 0 and 4.4 mg/kg and salinomycin at 0 and 22 mg/kg was used in Experiment 4. Poults fed the suspect commercial diet had significantly lower feed consumption and higher motality than poults fed a control diet (P

Ground rice hulls (GRH), whole rice hulls (WRH), or an equal mixture of whole rice hulls and wood shavings (WRH + WS) were compared with wood shavings (WS) as a suitable litter material for turkey poults. Body weights, feed consumption, and the incidence of leg abnormalities, breast blisters, and foot pad lesions of the birds reared on the different litter material were assessed at 3, 5, 7, and 8 weeks of age. Composite samples of litter materials were examined quantitatively at 4, 6, 7, and 8 weeks of age for percent moisture and bacterial and fungal populations. Poults were fed a starter ration supplemented with either 0 or 3% fat for 3 weeks, after which a grower diet containing 3% added fat was fed to all birds. Rice hull products produced no adverse effects upon poult performance (mortality, body weights, feed conversion, breast blisters, leg abnormalities, or foot pad lesions). However, the physical characteristics of GRH caused clumps to adhere to the toes of the poults. Approximately 2% of the 180 poults reared on GRH were affected. The condition disappeared once the birds started to scratch in the litter, which tended to break-up the thin layer of excreta on the surface of the GRH. The moisture content of the litter treatments did not differ significantly for the periods sampled. Bacterial and fungal populations were not significantly influenced by dietary treatment or litter type. These results indicate that rice hull products (WRH or WRH + WS) are a suitable litter for turkey poults. Supplementing 3% fat to the starter diet significantly increased growth at 3, 4, and 8 weeks of age. Turkey poults apparently have the capacity to utilize moderate levels of dietary fat during the early growing stage.

Lysine availability in blood meal as affected by processing method was studied using 53 samples representing 10 manufacturing processes. Each sample was analyzed for total lysine and chemically available lysine using the fluorodinitrobenzene technique (FDNB-lysine). Bioavailable lysine was determined by turkey poult growth assay. The bioavailability was calculated using the slope ratio method where gain was regressed on dietary lysine content (Method A) or on lysine consumption (Method B). Vat-dried blood meal, representing harsh processing conditions, contained significantly less total lysine, FDNB-lysine, and bioavailable lysine when compared to spray, DeLaval-Anderson, ring, and flash-dried blood meal. Content of FDNB-lysine was more correlated with bioavailable lysine than was total lysine. Available lysine as measured by the FDNB-lysine technique overestimated bioavailable lysine in vat-dried samples. Bioavailable lysine contents as estimated by Method B were greater and more variable than those determined by Method A.

IN THEIR studies with methionine-deficient broiler diets which contained 20 to 22% protein, Baldini and Rosenberg (1955) observed that the methionine requirement, expressed as percent of diet, increased as the energy content of the diet increased. It was predicted that this principle of the energy-dependence of amino acid needs would apply to all essential amino acids and for most animals. In the meantime this has been shown to be true for the lysine requirement of rats (Rosenberg and Culik, 1955) and for the methionine requirement of the turkey poult (unpublished). In view of the realization that the energy content of the diet has such a pronounced effect on amino acid requirements it became desirable to reinvestigate several other phases of amino acid utilization. In this communication we report some results of our studies on the effect which a change in protein level may have on the methionine requirement of broilers.

INTRODUCTION FOUR down anomalies have been reported in the turkey poult: the shortened down condition associated with faded Bronze plumage (Keeler et al., 1949), hairy (Smyth, 1954), naked (Poole and Marsden, 1961), and late feathering (Asmundson and Abbott, 1961). In the spring of 1959 a new abnormal down condition was observed in both hatched and late-dead (25–28 days incubation) Black turkey poults from the Experiment Station Flock. The condition was characterized as a general shortening of the down plus a buckling of individual plumules within the sheath forming a club-like bulge. Juvenile and adult feathers were not affected. Because of the similarity to a condition in chickens known as “clubbed down” (Lepkovsky et al., 1938) the same descriptive term has been applied to the turkey poult. Kabystina and Petrov (1935) reported that a shortened down condition in chickens was always associated with black down-color. Hutt (1951), found a similar …

THE effects of fiber content and physical form of turkey diets have been studied as separate experimental entities. Only a few reports have appeared in the literature on the effect of dietary energy level on the performance of turkeys. The present paper is the first of a series that will consider the energy requirement of turkeys of different ages and factors that affect this requirement. A review of the literature on turkey poult nutrition reveals that Goff (1932/34) reported the average weight of 16-week-old Bronze poults fed diets containing from 3.77 to 11.62 percent fiber increased as the fiber level decreased. Goodeal and Moore (1941) were among the first to study the influence of physical form of the diet on the performance of poults. They found that mash and pellet-fed poults made similar weight gains to 8 weeks of age. Berg and Bearse (1947) reported that turkey poults fed a …

UNIDENTIFIED growth factors for the turkey poult have been reported to be present in fish meal, fish solubles, distillers dried solubles, liver preparations, dried brewer’s yeast, dried skimmed milk, dried whey, whey products, and grass and alfalfa juices (German et al., 1948; Atkinson and Couch, 1951a, b, 1953; Couch et al., 1954; Patrick, 1951a, b; Scott, 1951a, b, 1952; Menge et al., 1952; McGinnis et al., 1952; Atkinson et al., 1953; Halbrook et al., 1953; Combs et al., 1954; Hixson and Rosner, 1954). The carry-over of riboflavin from the hen through the egg to the chick has been reported by Clandinin (1946), and the transmission of vitamin B12 in a similar manner by Halick et al. (1953). The carryover of unidentified growth factors to chicks has been reported by Johnson (1955); Menge et al. (1952); Csonka et al. (1954); Patterson and McGinnis (1954); Patterson and Blaylock (1953); and Waibel et …

THE results of Callenback and Hiller (1933) and of Norris, Elmore, Ringrose, and Bump (1936) on the protein requirements of Ringnecked pheasants showed that the young of this species require a level of protein in the diet of about 28 to 30 percent, which indicates that the nutritional requirements of the pheasant resemble those of the turkey poult (Scott, Heuser, and Norris, 1948) more than they do those of the domestic chick. Therefore, in an attempt to establish the nutritional needs of the pheasant for rapid, efficient, uniform growth and feathering, and for optimum bone formation, it was decided to begin with a basal diet which had been shown to give excellent results with turkey poults. By making systematic changes in this basic formula it was hoped that the nutritional needs of the pheasant could be determined, within limits, and information could be obtained which would aid in the formulation . . .

LLOYD (1918) reported that rough rice, when fed not to exceed one-third of the grain (in a mash-grain system of feeding) for hens, was a nourishing feed and caused no injurious effects. Smith (1929 Smith (1930) fed broilers a diet containing relatively large amounts of brewers’ rice, rice bran, and rice polish and found that the growth rate was comparable to that obtained with a control ration. Upp (1933) fed laying pullets various rice products, (rice bran, rice polish, rough rice and brewers’ rice) individually and in combinations, in amounts up to 74.4 percent of the ration. Winter egg yield, yearly egg yield, hatchability, egg size, egg quality, body weight and livability of the birds were used as criteria of measurement for dietary adequacy and none of these found to be affected. Smith (1946 Smith (1948) incorporated rice products in the diet of hens fed both mash and grain. He suggested that …

THE nutrient requirements of animals are ordinarily expressed as percent of diet. Baldini and Rosenberg (1955) reported that the methionine requirement of the chick expressed in this manner was not a constant but varied with the energy content of the diet. They postulated that such a relationship probably existed with other animals and other nutrients. Such was found to be the case with the lysine requirement of the rat (Rosenberg and Culik, 1955). The experiments reported in this paper were conducted to determine whether or not a similar relation existed for the turkey poult. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE This report summarizes the results of nine battery experiments, each of which employed ten treatments applied to duplicate groups of twelve day-old tom poults. Jersey Buffs were used in four experiments and Broad Breasted Bronze were used in five experiments. The length of each experiment was six weeks during which time weekly measurements of . . .

IN 1944, the turkey poult's protein requirement was set at 24% of the diet by the National Research Council (NRC). In 1950, the NRC increased the suggested requirement to 28%. Fritz, Halpin and Hooper (1947) reported that protein levels above 26% were required for maximum early poult growth. Scott, Heuser and Norris (1948) demonstrated that 24% protein was adequate with a low energy ration, whereas 28–30% protein was required when a ration higher in energy was employed. Calculations by the author of the productive energy content (Fraps, 1946) of these diets indicated values of about 700 and 830 Calories per pound, respectively. Considerable information is available showing increased growth due to methionine supplementation (Bird et al., 1948; Atkinson et al., 1953; Ferguson et al., 1956, 1957; Pepper and Slinger, 1955; and others); however, factors regulating the methionine requirement require further elucidation. The work of Ferguson et al. (1957) using …

WITH the advances in nutritional science it has become evident that marked inter-specific differences often exist in nutritional requirements, even among closely related species. However, it appears that, on the whole, the requirements of the turkey poult bear a fairly direct relationship to the requirements of the chick. In the case of these two species, the requirements for the turkey appear to be higher than these of the chick approximately in proportion to the increased rate of growth of the turkey over that of the chick. In a preceding paper (Scott, Heuser and Norris, 1948) a purified diet has been described which was found to promote markedly superior growth in poults as compared to that obtained using a commercial turkey starter ration. The protein content of this diet was fixed so as to contain about 1.3 times the required level of each amino acid essential for the chick and to . . .

THE riboflavin requirements of the chick and the consequences of riboflavin deficiency have been fairly well established by Lepkovsky and Jukes (1936). Jukes (1938) found that the riboflavin requirements of chicks and turkey poults for maximum growth were about the same. Later work has substantially confirmed this observation, the requirements of chicks being about 250 micrograms of riboflavin per 100 grams of feed (Bethke and Record, 1942) and that of the turkey poult 270 (Patrick et al. 1944). The consequences of riboflavin deficiency in the turkey poult are not as well established as in the chicken. Lepkovsky and Jukes (1936) found that a dermatitis developed in riboflavin-deficient turkey poults, and Jukes (1938) later confirmed this observation. No paralysis was observed by these investigators. Patrick, Darrow, and Morgan (1944) did not find dermatitis in their riboflavin-deficient poults, but did find it in biotin-deficient poults. This raised the question of whether or . . .

THE metabolism of phytin phosphorus by the chick and the turkey poult and its relationship to vitamin D from different sources has been studied by several investigators during the last few years. (Singsen and Mitchell, 1945; Matterson, Scott and Singsen, 1946; Singsen, Matterson and Scott, 1947; Gillis, Norris and Heuser, 1949.) These studies indicated (1) that the phosphorus of phytin was poorly utilized by the poult and the chick for bone calcification although it appeared to support some growth and (2) that the source and level of vitamin D had a marked effect upon calcification as measured by the percent bone ash when phytin was the major source of phosphorus. Radioactive phosphorus (P32) seemed to offer real possibilities for obtaining further information on the metabolism of phytin phosphorus and its relationship with vitamin D, provided a natural form of phytin containing P32 could be prepared. The studies of Newman and . . .

THE various reports in the literature are in fairly good agreement on the amount of riboflavin needed by the turkey poult for maximum growth. On the other hand, there is wide disagreement concerning some of the deficiency symptoms in poults resulting from a lack of this vitamin. The results obtained by Heuser (1935) using a riboflavin deficient diet composed largely of practical ingredients, showed that a lack of riboflavin resulted principally in reduced growth. No evidence of dermatitis was mentioned. Lepkovsky and Jukes (1936) reported that turkey poults fed either a diet composed of natural ingredients low in riboflavin or a purified riboflavin-deficient diet failed to grow, suffered high mortality, and developed dermatitis. They found that a supplement of a purified riboflavin concentrate prevented the above symptoms. Jukes (1938) confirmed the findings of Lepkovsky and Jukes (1936), and found that a whey adsorbate rich in riboflavin gave good growth and . . .

IT might be stated that water is the most critical of the essential nutrients. Yet relatively little has been published as to its requirements by the turkey poult or of the effects of its withdrawal for extended periods of time. The fact that poults do require water has been taken for granted by turkey raisers for years yet stated in the literature by only a few researchers. Morehouse (1949) has reported weekly water consumption data for Broad Breasted Bronze poults for their first 26 weeks. That care must be exercised when attempting to change from one type of poult waterer to an unfamiliar one is suggested and demonstrated by Marsden et al. (1965). Ataxia and convulsions accompanied by high mortality resulted after their poults were allowed free access to drinking water after a deprivation period of approximately 48 hours. Bierer et al. (1965) have determined the survival time of 5-week-old …

PURIFIED diets in which a crystalline amino acid mixture serves as the sole source of amino nitrogen have been developed for a number of species. Among the successful mixtures which have recently been developed are ones capable of supporting near-normal growth of young chickens (Adkins et al., 1961a; Klain et al., 1960), egg production of hens (Fisher and Johnson, 1956; Adkins et al., 1961b) and nitrogen balance in the adult male chicken (Leveille and Fisher, 1958). However, except for a study by Vohra and Kratzer (1959), little attempt has been made to develop a free amino acid diet for the turkey poult. The desirability of developing a free amino acid diet for studying amino acid requirements and interrelationships in the turkey is obvious. The following studies were thus initiated to develop a crystalline amino acid mixture which, when added to a purified poult diet as the sole source of amino …

THE calcium and phosphorus requirements of growing chicks as influenced by the ratio of calcium to phosphorus and the level of vitamin D in the diet have been extensively studied. Although it is generally believed that a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 is optimum (Titus, 1939), Bethke et al. (1929) and Hart et al. (1930) showed the optimum ratio to be between 3:1 and 4:1 when low levels of vitamin D were fed. When more vitamin D was incorporated into the diet, less difference was observed between different calcium to phosphorus ratios and lower levels could be used (Hart et al., 1930). In the presence of high levels of calcium and phosphorus, less vitamin D was required (Nowatorski and Bird, 1943). Although the vitamin D requirements of turkey poults have been extensively studied, little has been reported on the calcium and phosphorus requirements. Mussehl and Ackerson (1935) found that . . .

A CONSIDERABLE amount of work has been done to establish the requirement for thiamine in the dog, rat, pig, and chick. Until now, no attempt has been made to establish the requirement for the turkey poult. The present work was undertaken to fill the gap in this area of knowledge. Light and Cracas (1938) reported a variation of 2 to 8 micrograms daily in three different strains of white rats, and Arnold and Elvehjem (1938a) found that growing rats needed 80 to 100 micrograms per 100 grams of ration for normal growth. Arnold and Elvehjem (1938b), using a ration composed of some natural feedstuffs which had been autoclaved, announced a requirement of 60 to 80 micrograms of crystalline thiamine chloride hydrochloride pen 100 grams of ration in the chick. In the growing pig, Hughes (1940) found a minimum daily requirement of 1 milligram of thiamine per 100 pounds of body …

THE conservation of protein must be carefully considered in a world with a constantly and rapidly increasing population and an ever-dwindling area of farmland. A good method to conserve protein is to increase the efficiency of that which is used by animals in producing human food. This may be accomplished by feeding only the absolutely essential amount of natural protein and supplementing it with small amounts of materials that allow for the most efficient protein utilization. Probably the first to demonstrate this principle was Voltz (1919), who used synthetic nitrogenous materials to supplement the protein fed to ruminants. More closely allied, perhaps, with the subject of this paper is the work done with the quail (Baldini, 1951). It was found that the quail, which is normally said to require 28 percent protein in its diet (Norris, 1935; Nestler et al., 1942; Stadelman et al., 1945; Baldini et al., 1950), could …