Cellulose digestion by domestic turkeys fed low or high fiber diets

To determine whether dietary preconditioning might improve fibrolysis in turkeys, Wrolstad Medium white hens were fed either a high (16.13%, HF) or low (2.80%, LF) fiber diet for 6-60 weeks. The substrate to test for cellulolysis, [14C]cellulose, was introduced into the gizzard per os or into one cecum via a cannulated fistula. Immediately after [14C]cellulose introduction, turkeys were placed in an airtight chamber (0.3 m3) from which exhaled CO2 was collected and analyzed for 14CO2. An average of 10.4% of the 14C was recovered in CO2 from turkeys fed the HF diet, and only 2.9% was recovered from the LF-fed birds that were orally dosed. In turkeys dosed via cecal cannula, recoveries averaged 15.4 and 2.9% for HF- and LF- fed birds, respectively. Recoveries were 7.0 and 1.4% in HF- and LF-fed turkeys that were cecectomized. Preconditioning to an HF diet does appear to improve cellulolysis.