In recent years, there has been a growing interest in feeding phytogenic products to poultry for their growth and health benefits. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of a phytogenic feed additive on turkey poult performance and digestive physiology over a 6-week brooding period. In total, 864 male Hybrid Converter turkey poults were obtained from a local commercial hatchery on day-of-hatch and placed into floor pens with clean pine shavings. The treatments were randomly assigned including an industry-type corn-soybean meal positive control (PC), a similar diet with a 1.5% reduction in crude protein and key amino acids (NC), or the NC with the addition of Digestarom® (PFA) included at a rate of 1 g/kg. Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed efficiency (FE), and mortality were recorded throughout the experiment. On day 14 poults fed the PFA had significantly higher BWG compared to the PC and NC fed birds. By day 42 birds fed the PC and PFA diets had significantly higher BWG compared to the NC, and the PC had significantly higher FE compared to the NC and PFA fed birds. No differences in FI or mortality were observed throughout the experiment. There were no significant differences in AMEn, crude protein digestibility, or nutrient transporter or pancreatic enzyme mRNA expression among treatments. However, aminopeptidase activity tended to be lower in the ileum of poults fed the PC or PFA diets compared to the NC, suggesting that the PFA may be improving protein utilization. Evaluation of a phytogenic feed additive on performance, nutrient digestion, and absorption in turkey poults Charles A. Zumbaugh III Abstract for General Public Recent regulations and customer demand have severely restricted the use of antibiotics in poultry production. Historically, antibiotics have been included in poultry diets at sub-therapeutic concentrations to improve performance and reduce disease incidence. Since this restriction, producers have experienced increased feed conversion ratio, decreased body weights, and increases in morbidity and mortality. Not only does this present an animal welfare issue, but producers experience decreased profits due to the decrease in performance associated with restricted antibiotic use. Many researchers are investigating the ability of alternative feed additives to help mitigate the lost performance this restriction has caused. One such alternative is a class of compounds known generally as phytogenic feed additives. These are herbs, spices, and associated products which can be included into the diet at relatively low concentrations. Previous research has demonstrated the ability of phytogenic feed additives to positively influence performance and gastrointestinal tract health, primarily in broiler chickens. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of a commercially available phytogenic feed additive on the performance, nutrient digestibility, and absorption in turkey poults over the first six weeks of feeding. Previous indications with th...