Impact of spray-dried bovine serum and environment on turkey performance

Two 28-d experiments were conducted with 280 and 224 Hybrid turkeys for experiments 1 (7 poults per pen, 10 pens per treatment) and 2 (7 poults per pen, 8 pens per treatment), respectively. The effect of Innavax (INX; spray-dried serum) administered in drinking water on turkey performance was evaluated. In both experiments, turkeys were randomly assigned to receive tap water mixed with 0, 0.45, 0.90, or 1.35% (wt/wt) INX and housed in floor pens containing clean (experiment 1) or used (experiment 2) litter. In experiment 1, a quadratic response in average daily gain (ADG), water intake, and feed efficiency occurred (P < 0.05) in the first week with increasing levels of INX. During the second and third weeks, a quadratic response in water intake occurred (P < 0.05) with 0.90% INX resulting in peak intake. In the fourth week, ADG increased quadratically (P < 0.05) with increasing INX. Overall for the 4-wk period, ADG and water intake increased quadratic manner (P < 0.05) with increasing INX to a maximum at 0.90%. In experiment 2, ADG and water intake increased linearly (P < 0.05) during the first week. Feed efficiency was unaffected (P > 0.05) by experimental treatment during the first week but increased linearly (P < 0.05) from d 8 to 14 and d 15 to 21. The growth response to INX was influenced by environment. A greater growth response of turkeys to INX was observed when turkeys were housed in floor pens with used litter compared with floor pens with clean litter.