Performance of growing turkey hens as influenced by supplemental dietary fat and different ME:nutrient ratios

Rate of gain and feed efficiency of growing hen turkeys from 1 to 126 days of age was improved by supplementing diets with a blended fat at levels ranging from 2 to 8%. The favorable response to supplemental fat occurred with diets base on corn or milo with the greatest responses obtained with the corn-based diets. There was no significant difference in body weight and feed efficiency between the hens receiving diets in which the concentration of nutrients were adjusted with increases in metabolizable energy (ME) concentration or diets in which nutrient concentrations remained constant (nonadjusted) irrespective of ME level. Body weight of hens at 126 days of age was increased from .4 to 1.8% for each 1% supplemental fat on the basis of regression analysis. Feed efficiency improvement varied from 1.4 to 1.5% for each 1% supplemental fat. Efficiency of protein utilization was improved significantly by the addition of supplemental fat, occurring primarily with the nonadjusted diet series. Efficiency of ME utilization was improved in both diet series by supplemental fat. Supplemental fat improved protein efficiency of milo-based diets but had no effect on ME utilization. Hens receiving fat-supplemented, corn-based diets exhibited a higher percentage of pendulous crops as compared with hens receiving the control corn diet or the milo-based diets.