The experiment was conducted on 204 Big 6 heavy torn turkeys. One-day-old chickens were allocated to two feeding groups, each with three replicates of 34 birds. All of the birds were fed identical granulated standard feeds in a three-stage system. The control birds were fed unsupplemented feed, the birds in the treatment group received a feed supplemented with pulverized hardwood charcoal at a dose of 3 kg/ton. Charcoal was given from day one of life for the entire period of rearing.The use of charcoal had a beneficial effect on performance. After 18 weeks of rearing, turkeys given charcoal-supplemented feed were 5.9% heavier (on average 870 g) and had a 6.5% better feed conversion ratio than the control birds. Survival in the group receiving charcoal was 99% as compared with 87.3%) in the control group. The crude protein content of the breast muscles of the experimental group increased significantly. The European Production Index equaled 393 for the control group and 504 for the charcoal-supplemented group.

The effect of turkey strain [BUT (Big-6), Hybrid Large White (HLW), and Nicholas (N-700)] on semen quantitative parameters (ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, and total number of sperm) and biochemical parameters (seminal plasma protein concentration, acid phosphatase activity in spermatozoa and seminal plasma, and antiproteinase activity of seminal plasma) was investigated over the reproductive period. The Big-6 strain had better quantitative parameters of semen compared with HLW and N-700 strains. Besides protein concentration, the Big-6 strain had the highest level of acid phosphatase activity in semen and antiproteinase activity in seminal plasma. The N-700 strain was characterized by reduced quantitative parameters and the lowest levels of all biochemical parameters in semen. While quantitative parameters of semen showed very little trend over the 21 wk of the reproductive season, the biochemical parameters increased several fold. Biochemical parameters of semen seemed to be more affected than quantitative parameters by age of the males. These changes may be related to decreasing semen quality with increasing age of male turkeys.

A 16-week experiment was conducted on 224 three-day-old BUT-9 turkey chickens randomly assigned to 4 groups, each with 4 replicates; each group comprised 7 toms and 7 hens. In successive 4-week periods the basic ration was supplemented with 2 to 5% of a mixture of rape seed oil and poultry fat (66:34) differing in peroxide value in groups I-IV <5, 50, 100 and 150 mEq 0 2 /kg, respectively.The addition of oxidized fat had a negative effect on the growth rate of turkeys, causing significant (PO.01) differences in the body weight of the birds at ages 12 and 16 weeks. At end of the experiment the birds in the control group (I) were an average 1.07 kg heavier than those in groups II-IV; these differences were considerably greater in torn turkeys and averaged 1.7 kg. The lower weight gain in the experimental birds was caused by the approximately 10% smaller consumption of feed than in the control group. Increasing the peroxide value of added fat from 50 mEq 0 2 /kg (group II) to 100 or 150 mEq 0 2 /kg (groups III and IV) did not further reduce body weight. The degree of fat oxidation did not distinctly affect mortality, feed consumption, or slaughter value of the turkeys. The addition of oxidized fat significantly lowered serum and hepatic vitamin E levels and, to a smaller extent, also the vitamin A content in the liver.

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The study was carried out on 456 one-day old BUT-9 torn poults divided into 4 groups (3 replicates x 38 poults per group) fattened until the age of 154 days.The control group was fed a wheat-maize feed. These cereals were replaced by triticale and barley in the experimental diets. Mixture 1 was given without enzymatic supplements, feeds 2 and 3 contained different enzyme preparations. Less soya oil was added to enzyme-supplemented feeds, on the assumption that the addition of enzymes can increase the AMEN of triticale and wheat by 6%, of barley by 10%.Body weight and feed utilization indexes, nutrient digestibility and dressing percentage were similar in all of the groups. Enzyme-supplemented feeds were more economical in comparison with the control triticale-barley diets (by 5.0-7.5%) and wheat-maize diets (by 8.5-11.0%).