Feature Article
Role of Nutrition in Litter Condition in Turkeys Dietary nutrient density impacted litter condition and the incidence of hock burns but not foot pad dermatitis in turkeys in a trial at Scottish Agricultural College (SAC). For ThePoultrySite, senior editor, Jackie Linden, summarises the results. Litter quality is an important component of many production systems, especially in turkeys because they remain in contact with the litter throughout the growing period, according to Dr Muhammad Waseem Mirza of SAC. He was speaking at this year's Turkey Science and Production Conference in Macclesfield, UK. A previous study by the same group showed that the concentration of dietary protein can influence the quality of the litter and the leg health of turkeys but it was unclear whether the effect was from the absolute protein level or the ratio between dietary protein and energy. So the SAC researchers conducted another trial using different nutrient densities but holding the protein:energy ratio constant. They looked at the performance of growing male turkeys to 20 weeks of age, as well as nutrient digestibility, water intake, litter condition and the incidence of hock burns and foot pad dermatitis.
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standard at the end of the trial at 20 weeks of age, said Dr Mirza. Nutrient density had positive and linear effects on weight gain, feed efficiency and dry matter digestibility.The effect on nutrient density on nitrogen digestibility, however, were not statistically significant. As expected, increasing dietary nutrient density had a negative and linear effects on feed and water intake. Increasing nutrient density had positive effects on litter quality, with both litter moisture and litter score decreasing linearly. However, litter ammonia increased as nutrient density increased, as did the prevalence of hock burns. There was no effect of treatment on foot pad dermatitis in this trial.
The diets were based on wheat and soybean meal and formulated to contain 77, 85, 100, 110 or 120 per cent of the crude protein and metabolisble energy content recommended for the breed standard, BUT 8.
Hock burn was related to water to feed ratio, feed efficiency, water intake and ammonia in the litter, said Dr Mirza. Foot pad dermatitis was associated only with the water-to-feed ratio.
Overall bodyweight was higher than the breed
Also interesting was that hock burn score was