Posthatch carbohydrate feeding and subsequent performance of turkey poults

In two floor pen trials, day-old poults were fed a low-protein (18.6%) diet for the first 24 or 48 h compared with control poults fed a 28% protein diet. Beyond these initial treatments, all poults were treated identically and were fed the normal progression of starter, grower, and finisher diets to market weight. The treatments did not alter market age body weight or feed conversion. Early mortality and feed intake during the first 48 h were unaffected by the treatments. Feeding the low-protein diet for 24 h enhanced liver glycogen reserves compared with the control. In a battery cage trial, diets containing 50, 33, or 15% available carbohydrate (20, 28, or 35% crude protein, respectively) were fed for 24 h posthatch. The diets had no effect on blood glucose level, but liver glycogen concentration increased with increasing dietary carbohydrate. The results clearly indicate that carbohydrate metabolism is altered by posthatch dietary carbohydrate level. The results also suggest that the dietary protein requirement during the first 24 or 48 h posthatch may not be as high as it is currently thought to be.