Rearing system effects on live weight gain of large white turkeys

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of three production systems on live weight gain (LWG) of white turkeys by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and profile analysis. A total of 81 turkey poults were assigned to intensive (7 male and 19 female), semi-intensive (9 male and 19 female) and extensive groups (11 male and 16 female) at one day old. The poults were wing-banded at day 1 after hatching and weighed individually each week through 16 weeks old. The birds were managed similarly through eight weeks old. After that time, the intensive group was fed concentrated feed indoors. The birds of the semi-intensive group had access to pasture for eight hours a day, and received 50% of the concentrated feed that was consumed by the intensive group. The birds in the extensive group were kept outdoors with shade and grazed on pasture, but did not receive concentrated feed. The bi-weekly LWG of the extensive, intensive and semi-intensive groups were 1191.4 g, 990.6 g and 872.1 g, respectively. Through the 16 weeks of the trial, the effects on LWG of production system, age, and interaction of age and production system were highly significant (P <0.01) in the repeated measures ANOVA. The profile analysis also showed highly significant (P <0.01) production system effects and interaction of production system and age on LWG. Scheffe’s test indicated that the intensive, semi-intensive, and extensive treatments differed (P <0.05).

Effects of different feeding methods on neuropeptide nesfatin-1 and irisin in turkeys

“…In T3 irisin levels were high, presumably because of their increased level of physical activity in the more novel environment. However, the heaviest and presumably most sedentary turkeys in this study were in T1 (Inci et al, 2020), and this group had high levels of irisin levels in both males and females. Thus, another explanation could be that these birds had a greater amount of body fat because 28% of the circulating irisin was secreted from adipose tissue (Roca-Rivada et al, 2013).…”

“…However, in the current study, the plasma nesfatin-1 levels of the turkeys fed with pasture were higher than those of T1. The turkeys that could access pasture also showed a marked reduction of growth rate at eight weeks, with only the T3 group showing full recovery to the level of T1 by the 16th week (Inci et al, 2020). Haghshenas et al (2014) reported that exercising would be likely to decrease nutrient intake, weight gain and fat deposition by increasing nesfatin-1 levels.…”

“…Cisse, 2012;Shousha et al, 2015;Banerjee & Chaturvedi, 2015) and even less is known about the effects of irisin in birds. Previously, it was shown that turkeys fed in confinement, those that were pastured, and those in hybrid systems differed in their patterns of growth (Inci et al, 2020). Therefore, these systems were evaluated for effects on circulating levels of nesfatin-1 and irisin.…”